The Warrior and the Mutant
by Duette
Summary: Yaoi. Piccolo is thrown into the world of XMen: Evolution. Unfortunately some of the DBZ world's biggest adversaries have followed him. Will he survive and get home...will he even want to? Discontinued
1. There was a boy

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah blah blah...I'm not making any money (In fact, I could use some-anyone out there like to spare a gal a few bucks to buy more comic books?) ^-^.   
  
Authoress's tidbits:   
X-Men Evolution/DBZ Crossover  
This is Yaoi- so if that's not your cup of tea then move your tush elsewhere.  
I added Beast because he's one of my favs, so don't be surprised to see a blue guy walking around the set. This is a side story for both worlds just know that Piccolo has already merged with Kami and Cell's dead. This is before Buu. Since X-Men Evolution has kinda just started this is a side story somewhere in the middle of the madness. Hope ya like it, and if not then don't be too harsh  
  
/lalala /- means the characters are thinking.  
(~ lalala ~)- means I wanted to add something of my own, deal with it! :P  
  
  
"What are you talking about? Not another party! Gohan has to study and get his edge in the world! He can't do that by blowing up things like his father! I just want the best for my son, is that so hard for a mother to ask?!" ranted Chi-Chi, as she stormed around the house, she was furious, as usual.   
  
"But Chi-Chi, it's not just any party, it's a Birthday party, it's Turtle's birthday (~Not the birthday when Kuririn broke up with Marron!~), remember? We can't just blow it off and not go. Please, Gohan can study till his brains turn to goo when we come back. Is that ok?" pleaded Goku, trying desperately to stay away from the enraged woman and hiding in a corner behind a chair.   
  
It was Turtle's birthday again- he's getting to be really, REALLY old. Goku couldn't even count all the candles on the cake, of course he wasn't concerned with candles, he was staring at the cake, and drooling. Chi-Chi wanted Gohan to study, but figured he could socialize every once in a while, and let Goku take Gohan to the party. Chi-Chi didn't come because she was too busy thinking of new ways to cram information into poor Gohan's head. Tienshinhan and Chao-zu were busy playing cards with Yamcha and Pu'ar. Master Roshi was trying to talk Bulma into a game of Truth or Dare while she was trying to change Trunks. Oolong was playing Kuririn at a game of Dark Stalkers with Gohan watching.   
  
"Which hand are we on now guys?" asked Yamcha, after he finished staring at the video game Kuririn and Oolong were playing.  
  
"Pay attention Yamcha or we'll never beat them." said Pu'ar, getting as irritated as she possibly could with Yamcha.  
  
"We're only on the third hand. You guys have none, and we have two. Haven't you ever played spades before?" asked Chao-zu.   
  
"I still don't understand why we didn't play poker." mumbled Tienshinhan.  
  
Choa-zu organized his cards while saying, " Because we don't have any money."  
  
"Oh yeah."  
  
"Um...yes...of course I've played before. What would make you think otherwise? I'm just trying to throw you off by pretending I don't know what I'm doing." Yamcha laughed while scratching the back of his head.  
  
Pu'ar, Chao-zu, and Tien sweat dropped.  
  
"For the fifteenth time Roshi, no I will not play Truth or Dare with you!" said Bulma, getting frustrated because she couldn't get Trunk's diaper off.  
  
"Aww! Come on, Bulma! You know you want to play," said Master Roshi, "I know you've been eyeing me ever since you laid eyes on me." He tipped his sunglasses and winked at her. "Yup, that Vegeta just couldn't add up to ol' Master Roshi, now could he. Hehehehehehehehehe."  
  
"That stupid Vegeta! All he had to say was," she musters up her best Vegeta imitation, "'Onna! Why do want to go to some stupid party with Kakkaroto and his son. I would much rather be training.' He makes me so mad sometimes." She took one look at Master Roshi, and got an evil thought. "Okay, fine I'll play," she announced.  
  
"Really, WAHOO!" Master Roshi jumped and clicked his heels.  
  
"On one condition..."  
  
"Huh?" sunglasses falling to one side.  
  
"You have to change Trunk's diaper for me," she said holding up one foul smelling half-saiyan baby boy.  
  
"No Way! Are you crazy! That baby could have Bacterian* running from the smell."  
  
"Then I guess I won't be playing. Too bad, have a nice day."  
  
"(mumbling) stupid baby, why'd he have to go and crap his diaper anyway?"  
  
"Yeah get 'em Kuririn! Ouch! That really hurt your score Oolong. Block. No punch! Stop. No! Kick 'em. Oh Come on! You can do better than that! I've never played and I could do better! Punch 'em. Hurry before he recovers!" Gohan was providing commentary for Kuririn's and Oolong's game. He wasn't helping one bit.  
  
Simultaneously, Oolong and Kuririn turned around and yelled at the top of their lungs, "SHUT UP!!!!"  
  
"Eep!" Gohan ran behind the couch, "Ok you guys you don't have to be mean like that. Sooo soooorrrrrrrrryyyyyy!" Gohan said sarcastically and walked over to his Dad, leaving two relieved, and definitely thankful men.(~well a pig shape shifter and a monk from Orin temple with no nose, but we'll say men for the story, ok? ^-^ ~)  
  
Gohan strolled over to where Goku was devouring a piece of cake as large as his head. "Where's Turtle, Dad?"  
  
Goku didn't even look up from eating and mumbled with bits of food falling from his mouth, "He went outside to watch the ocean or something."  
  
"Oh, hey, I didn't see Mr. Piccolo around here. Can I go find him Dad?"  
  
"Sure ::mmph:: just be sure to be back before we have to go. Ok Gohan?"  
  
"Yeah, ok. Thanks. I'll see if I can persuade him to come and join the party. Bye!"  
  
"Bye!" said Goku still chomping on that huge piece of cake.  
  
/I wonder what Mr. Piccolo is doing anyway./ Gohan wondered aimlessly until he stumbled upon a huge ki reading, and automatically knew it was his friend's.  
  
/You know I do view him as my friend, even another father. I must be the luckiest boy on Earth, because I have two fathers! There he is!/ Gohan spotted a white cape and flew towards it.  
  
"Oi! Mr. Piccolo, what are doing?" Gohan asked as he walked up to the Namek.  
  
"What does it look like I'm doing Gohan? I'm training." Piccolo nonchalantly walked over to a huge boulder and sat down, enjoying the break from his training, of course he'd never tell anyone that.  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For any other enemies that decide to attack Earth." said Piccolo, now getting annoyed, "Now what do you want? Make it quick."   
  
Gohan eeped, "Well, everyone is at Turtle's Birthday Party, and I thought that you might want to come. I mean seeing as that your not a bad guy, and everyone has kind of warmed up to you, wouldn't it be neat to go to a party, and just let go? No training, no fighting, just a whole lot of partying!" Gohan smiled, and silently crossed his fingers.  
  
Piccolo seemed to be thinking about it, and that was a definite good sign.  
  
"Well, I don't see what trouble it would make if I went to this party for a little while." He said finally.  
  
"YAHOO! Come on Mr. Piccolo. They've already cut the cake, and if we don't get there soon then Dad will have eaten it all." whooped Gohan as he grabbed Piccolo's hand and started dragging him to the Kami House.  
  
"Let go Gohan. What sort of image will this give? I do have a reputation to protect, you know." said Piccolo, taking back his hand.   
  
"Oh, ok. We can't have everyone knowing that you've turned soft, now can we?" smiled Gohan.  
  
"Why you little...." Piccolo started to grab for Gohan when a huge bright light engulfed him, sending waves of pain throughout his entire being. He was not ready for the sudden wave, and screamed out.  
  
Gohan just stood there, not knowing what to do. One minute he was going to get pounded for making a joke, and the next his sensei is howling in pain as a huge white light surrounds him. All he could do was react, and that meant to reach out and try to help Piccolo. As soon as he touched the light, pain traveled through his hands and to every part of his body. It hurt so much, and he couldn't help Piccolo by getting hurt himself, so he removed his hands and watched.   
  
Piccolo somewhat regained control of his body through the pain and made his mouth move,   
  
"Go...han...go...get...help...LEAVE NOW!"  
  
Gohan quickly responded and ran to get his father. /Surely Dad can help Mr. Piccolo. He has to be able to help./  
  
Piccolo, meanwhile, just couldn't hang on to his consciousness, and slipped into the welcome, and deadly realm of the dark.  
  
What do ya think? The X-Men are in the next chapter, so stick around. And please be a good little reader and review! 


	2. A very strange, enchanted boy

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah blah blah...I'm not making any money.  
  
/lalala /- means the characters are thinking.  
(~ lalala ~)- means I wanted to add something of my own.  
  
  
"Professor. The children are all crowding around something. They won't move so we can't see if anyone is hurt." said Ororo, as she walked into Professor Xavier's office.   
  
"Well then, get the others and let's see just what is going on, shall we?"   
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Dad!" screamed Gohan as he ran into the Kami House.  
  
"What? What happened?" Goku asked his hysterical son, as he wiped the rest of the cake off his face.  
  
"It's Piccolo! Something just appeared, and it has him. I don't know what it is Dad, but I know that it's killing him! I couldn't touch it hurt too much!" sobbed Gohan, he was barely able to contain himself, and was propped up on the table "Dad we have to help him! We can't let him die like that! Please!"   
  
"Yes, of course. Come on, before it's too late." Goku knew something had to be very, very wrong for Gohan to act like this. Piccolo was Gohan's role model, and Goku knew that if anything happened to him, then Gohan would blame himself, because he couldn't help.  
  
With that Goku, Gohan, Kuririn, Tienshinhan, Chao-zu, and Yamcha went to Piccolo's aid. Little could they know, they that someone else was also coming to help out the Namek.   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Children, calm down. Move aside so we can take a look." said Professor X strolling toward the crowd. As the crowd moved, the Professor and the rest of the X-Men saw a huge circle of light, no, it was not sphere, because even though there seemed to be depth to it, when one walked around it he could tell it was paper thin. It seemed to have a diameter of 8 feet, making it quite large.   
  
"What's that inside it?" observed Jean-Grey, as she walked closer to the light.  
  
"I don't know, but it's becoming clear." Scott said while he walked up to stand behind Jean.  
  
"I looks like a man, well, somewhat." Said Kitty.  
  
"It is a Namekian." Said the Professor, suddenly when he came up behind the group.  
  
"What's that, some sort of bug?" Wolverine asked as he walked up to sniff at the creature inside the portal.  
  
"I've only heard a little of their kind. They are very much similar to us in appearance, from what I've heard. They possess extraordinary powers, much like us mutants. I do not know anything of their culture, and would much like to, so let's see if we can not help our friend out of his predicament." Informed Professor X, silently nodding to Logan to try and get the Namek out.  
  
"Um...sure, I guess."Wolverine walked up to the glowing light, and touched it. As soon as he did, he yelled as grabbed his hand, cradling it. "Holy Shit! That hurts. How are we suppose to get him out, if he's in there?"  
  
"It looks like he is unconscious." said Rogue studying the creature.  
  
"What's that behind 'em?" asked Kurt pointing behind the Namekian to a group of people that landed on the other side of the portal.  
  
"Yes, there are some men that just got there. I can see them clearly. One's tall with spiky hair; he seems to be the leader. They seem to be talking about something, most likely our friend here." Beast told the group.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Z fighters had just landed, and were trying to figure out a way to get Piccolo out of the bubble.  
  
"Well, we can't grab him, so is there anything around here that we could get to pull him out?" said Kuririn as he scratched the back of his head.  
  
"Oh, well, I don't know. We can't make anything with just sticks, that would probably just push him further into the bubble thingy." said Gohan, walking around the circle.  
  
/I don't know if he's gone already. I just hope unconscious is all he is/ thought Tien, as he looked at the Namek.  
  
"Hey, who're those guys behind him?" asked Chao-zu.  
  
"No one can be behind him Chao-zu. The light thing is too thin, actually I wonder where exactly Piccolo is, if the bubble is so thin." replied Yamcha putting his hands on his hips.  
  
"We've got to get him out of there quick. His ki is dropping rapidly." said Goku, clenching his fists.  
  
  
All of a sudden the bubble started to close up, it kept getting smaller and smaller.  
  
  
"It's closing up, along with Piccolo's decreasing ki. The two are connected. Piccolo is going to get squished!" yelled Kuririn frantically running around the little island where Piccolo had been training.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Logan, try again. The circle is getting smaller, and I'm afraid he'll die if we don't get him out of there quickly." Professor X pleaded with Wolverine, "You can rapidly heal yourself, so it won't affect you as much as it would one of the others."  
  
"Ok, but you'll owe me one Charles." Wolverine stepped up to the bubble and gritted his teeth as he began to pull the man out.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Hey! That guy is pulling Piccolo over to that side!" Gohan ran to pull back on Piccolo, but Goku stopped him.  
  
"No, Gohan. We can't do anything. Just let him do it." Goku dropped his eyes from Piccolo's, unsure if he had made the right decision to let the thing on the other side take Piccolo into the other world. /At least I think it's a world. /   
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
To Logan it felt like an eternity before he pulled out the strange creature. Every movement made pain spread to a totally different part of his body. He was going to make sure that this guy knew exactly what he went through to get him out of that thing.  
  
"Those guys behind this guy are really getting mad. Are you sure we were suppose to pull him out of there?" asked Kitty getting kind of nervous when the men on the other side became agitated when Wolverine began pulling the Namek out of the portal.  
  
"Yeah, the little guy with spiky hair looks like he's about to cry. Poor baby." said Rogue.  
  
"Hey, look! The bubble has stopped getting smaller! But, it's still pretty little, I'd say three feet in diameter, roughly." said Jean placing a hand to her chin in thought.  
  
"Whoa, this guy's heavy." huffed Wolverine, still holding Piccolo.  
  
"That cape of his looks pretty heavy. Why not just take it off, and that turban as well." suggested Beast walking around to Logan.  
  
"Uh...ok sure." Wolverine put Piccolo on the ground and started to take off the immense cape, and heavy turban. He didn't know it was about this guy, but he got a feeling of immense power radiating from his body. He shook it off.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"What are they doing!? They shouldn't take off his cape it helps him train. Put it back on!" yelled Gohan, he was frustrated because he didn't know what mess Piccolo was in, and he knew that he had to help him get out of it.  
  
"Gohan, calm down. They probably can't lift him. I mean the combination of his cape and turban must be over 1,000 pounds*." Tien offered a comforting hand on Gohan's shoulder. Gohan welcomed it and settled down.  
  
"I wonder if I can contact them?" Goku said suddenly.  
  
Everyone looked at him, and just sighed.  
  
"It probably won't work," told Yamcha, putting his hands on his hips, "There might not be anyone advanced enough to be able to tell someone was telepathically conversing with them."   
  
"Ooooo, big words. Very good Yamucha." Kuririn said clapping his hands and generally making a fool of himself, "I don't see why it wouldn't work. I mean because Goku is so powerful, he should be able to get through to anyone."  
  
"SHOULD is the key word here. We DON'T know if it won't work." Yamucha said back.  
  
"We don't know if it WILL work, either." Kuririn corrected.  
  
"I'm telling you, that you need time and training to be able to tell."  
  
"And I'm telling you that Goku is so powerful that he can talk to anyone."  
  
"Guy's hush." Goku chipped in.  
  
Yamcha and Kuririn stopped fighting and looked over at Goku "Why?"they said in unison.  
  
"Because I think I can get through to the guy in the wheelchair."  
  
"Oh" they said in unison again.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The Professor put his hand to his head and began to concentrate on the words pouring into his mind's eye. Storm noticed and asked, "What's wrong Professor?"  
  
At her question everyone, except Wolverine, became instantly concerned.  
  
"I don't know someone is trying to contact me. It's in a version of Japanese. I know a little of the language, so I can piece together what he's saying. He says that he is on the other side of that portal, and his name is Goku." explained the Professor.  
  
/ Can hear me? /  
  
/Yes, Goku. /  
  
/You are called Professor? /  
  
/No, my name is Xavier, Professor X by many. /  
  
/Ok, Professor X. I don't know a lot about you, and I don't trust you with Piccolo. /  
  
/So, Piccolo is his name. Interesting. You need not fear me; I will cause your friend no harm. He is in bad condition, and we will help heal him for you. I am very sorry, but I do not know how to get him back through the portal without endangering both his life, and one of my X-Men's. /  
  
/I still don't give you my trust, and I'm a bit skeptical of your motives. We've had a lot of trouble with doctors and professors. Look, I'll get people on my Earth to look at the portal, and you get your people to look at it on your side. Don't get many people involved though. There aren't a lot of tall green guys walking around everyday. I'm afraid that even if you don't want to hurt him, someone else might, so don't tell anyone, ok? /  
  
/Yes, of course, Goku. /  
  
/One question though, how are you able to talk to me telepathically? /  
  
/Well, on my world we have people called mutants. Mutants are genetically advanced humans, they have special powers, and mine is telepathy, I am also capable of reading and controlling people's minds. /  
  
/That's kind of scary. I wouldn't want anyone controlling my mind. /  
  
/There is nothing to fear from me, or my X-Men. Just like humans there are good, and bad mutants, and we are the good guys. How are you able to converse with me? Do you have some sort of special powers as well? /  
  
/Well, you could say that. And it's kind of a long story. I'm not good at telling stories, so just ask Piccolo when he wakes up. /  
  
/Of course. /  
  
/Oh, one more thing. Tell Piccolo to contact me once he wakes up ok? /  
  
/Yes, I will tell him. /  
  
/Well, goodbye for now Professor X. /  
  
/ Goodbye and good luck Goku. /  
  
  
Goku turned from the portal and quickly told the other Z fighters of their situation. They then flew off to tell the others at Kami House, all hoping Piccolo would be ok in the strange world.  
  
Please review if you've read this. I hope you like it! 


	3. They say he wandered very far, very far

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah blah blah...I'm not making any money.  
  
/lalala /- means the characters are thinking.  
(~ lalala ~)- means I wanted to add something of my own.  
  
  
Goku turned from the portal and quickly told the other Z fighters of their situation. They then flew off to tell the others at Kami House, all hoping Piccolo would be ok in the strange world.  
  
"Hey! Where are they going?" Scott asked turning around to face Professor X.  
  
"Probably to find help." said Professor X as he started to make his way back to the mansion from outside in the field where they found the portal.  
  
"Did you see that they were all flying?" asked Beast as he too turned to walk back toward the mansion.  
  
"Really?" asked Kurt walking behind Kitty.  
  
"Well, what are we going to do with this guy?" asked Kitty, cutting off Beast from his next sentence.  
  
"Well, I told the man I would help his friend return to full strength." said the Professor as he turned to face Wolverine.  
  
"What man?" asked Logan.  
  
"The man I was telepathically communicating with, Goku."  
  
"How can a human converse with you? I mean that would have to make him a mutant, right?" asked Jean walking with Scott.  
  
"He seemed to not know what a mutant was. But he is very powerful, I could feel it during our conversation."  
  
"What 'ave we gotten ourselves into?" said Kurt.  
  
"I don't know, but I do intent to fulfill my promise and fix this young man up."  
  
"Does he have a name?" asked Rogue.  
  
"Yes, his name is Piccolo."  
  
"As in the instrument?" inquired Beast.  
  
"I would suppose. Come, bring him to the infirmary*."  
  
They all started walking inside. The boys and girls of the school stood in wonder as Wolverine brought in the unconscious Namekian.  
  
/You know, he's really light without all that stuff on him. How can he have enough strength to carry all that stuff with his light form? Amazing. / thought Wolverine.  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
/Whoa, where am I? My head really hurts. What is this place? / thought Piccolo as he woke up. He noticed that he was in an all white room that was not much bigger than Goku's house. There were wires everywhere and beside there were three chairs and standing next to one of them with it's back turned was a short and extremely muscular man with a lab coat drapped around him.   
  
Beast heard his patient wake. He turned, walked over and introduced himself to the confused green man in the bed,   
  
"Hello, my name is Henry McCoy, but just call me Beast. I'm your doctor. How are you feeling, my friend?"  
  
Piccolo kind of stared at him for a moment, then said in English. "My head still hurts, and everything else for that matter. Wait a minute, ...you're blue?" Piccolo raised an eyebrow ridge and put a hand to his pounding head. (~I'll explain to you how it is that Piccolo knows English.~)  
  
"Yes, I am," laughed Beast, "I am what we call a mutant, as well as everyone else in this school. However, you should be talking, you're green."  
  
"Touché." Piccolo tried to sit up but when he did he became dizzy and felt nauseated, so he quickly laid back down. "Exactly what is a mutant, if you don't mind my asking?"   
  
"A mutant is a human being with genetically advanced cells that give them extraordinary abilities. And this school" Beast looked around with his arms open to emphasize his point "is for young mutants who have been orphaned, or ran away because the outside world disapproves of and generally hates mutants."  
  
"I'm not on Earth, am I?"  
  
"No, you are on Earth, just another Earth."  
  
"You mean as in an alternate dimension. I've heard of dimensions colliding, but I never thought it was real." Kami's knowledge leaking into the coversation.  
  
"Well, it seems that is how you got here my friend."  
  
Piccolo laughed somewhat. /Wait a minute. Since when do I laugh freely? I've never done that- well unless I was going into battle and I was laughing at something the villain did that I thought was incredibly stupid, but other than that, I've never laughed just because something was funny. Smirked maybe, yes, that's it, I smirk, never laugh. This place is definitely something else. /  
  
Just then the door opened and a group of people entered the room, one in a wheelchair.  
  
"Hello, it's good to see you've awakened." greeted the man in the wheelchair, "I am Professor Charles Xavier, more commonly called Professor X." He said all of this in Japanese.  
  
"Hello to you too." said Piccolo in Japanese, "But, I am quite capable of speaking in your tongue." Now becoming very self conscious and wrapping his sheet tighter around his tall yet slim body, "Where's my cape, and turban?"  
  
"How is it that you know Enlgish?" inquired Professor X.  
  
Piccolo shrugged. "You learn a lot in heaven."  
  
Professor X was about to ask him to elaborate when he raised his hand and said, "I'll explain later. Now, where's my cape and turban?"  
  
"We put that in Logan's room for the time being." said Rogue.  
  
Piccolo raised an eyebrow ridge, "Who are you all?"  
  
"Just call me Rogue," She said winking.  
  
The woman in all white came forward and said, "Let me do the introductions, I'm Ororo. This is Scott," pointing to the man with the red sunglasses, "Jean," pointing to the woman beside Scott with bright red hair, "Kurt" gesturing to the furry...um...elf, "Spyke" waving to the black boy, "Kitty" aiming at the young female with a ponytail, "Rogue I believe you already met, Beast our resident physician, and Wolverine who brought you in" pointing to the huge man with many muscles.   
  
/He looks powerful. Might make a good sparring partner. / Piccolo thought when he was introduced to Wolverine.  
  
"You said you put my stuff in Logan's room. I wasn't introduced to any Logan."  
  
"That's me bub." Wolverine said while clearing his throat.  
  
/Just my luck. / thought Piccolo sarcastically.   
  
"Oh, Piccolo, Goku asked me to tell you to contact him as soon as you were awake." said Professor Xavier before leaving the room with the other X-Men, all except Wolverine.  
  
Mumbled "Yeah, um...nice to meet you."s, "Cool antennae", and whispered "Is that guy really an alien?" where picked up by Piccolo's over sensitive ears and this all caused him to smirk. / These kids will be a lot of fun to mess with. / thought Piccolo before giving his attention to the only remaining person in the room.  
  
"How does he know my name? And how does he know Goku's name?" Piccolo asked Logan, while trying to find a comfortable spot on the sickroom's board that they dared to call a mattress.   
  
"You can try all you want but there's just no way to get comfortable on one of those things." Logan said as if reading his mind while sitting down in one of the chairs next to the bed. "As soon as we found you outside the grounds, that guy Goku and a bunch of other people came and got real angry when I pulled you out of that portal."   
  
"Oh yeah, the portal. Man, that was a painful experience."  
  
"I know, I pulled you out."  
  
"How did you pull me out? I don't think even Goku would be able to do that."  
  
Logan smirked, "My mutant powers allow me to rapidly heal myself from injuries."  
  
"That must come in handy, Logan." Piccolo smirked as well. "I can do that too, which is probably why I'm not dead right now." He shrugged and then pulled up more of the blankets and tried, key word TRIED, to go to sleep.  
  
/What is it about this kid that makes me feel protective? I hardly even know 'em! I'm definitally off my rocker. Can he really have the same power I have? / Logan gazed at the sleeping Namek and a brief smile over took his features before he quickly surpressed it. /Who is this guy? /   
  
/Whoa, that was weird. He's still here. I've never felt like I had to impress anyone before. All I'm feeling is gratitude for him because he pulled me out. No one ever really wanted to save me, just me, only me ever before. Except maybe for Gohan, but he has this hero worship thing going on. I mean, when Tien and I fought Cell, Goku only came to help after Tien was beat up. Someone else had to get hurt before they would come to help me. I'm getting depressed. Think positive thoughts Piccolo. Positive. / Piccolo settled back down, feeling better that Logan was there. / Oh, I have to contact Goku and tell him that I'm fine. He probably won't care, but I have to do it for Gohan, he's probably going off the wall. / Piccolo smirked. He sat back up and started to concentrate on Goku's ki force.  
  
Logan saw Piccolo's movement and was about to ask if he was all right, but just watched instead. He liked the way the Namek looked, and if he had an opportunity to just stare, he took it. / What!? I don't like guys! I've never liked guys! Especially green ones...who are tall, mysterious, handsome...Cut It Out! / Logan shook his head to try and get those thoughts out of his mind. "Are you ok? Need anything?"  
  
Piccolo opened his eyes. "No. I was told I had to contact Goku as soon as possible."  
  
"You're telepathic as well?"  
  
A shrug. "I have various abilities. Telepathy is only one of them. Now quiet."  
  
"..."  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
/Goku, are you there? /  
  
Goku suddenly stood up in the middle of the Kame House meeting. "Piccolo!"  
  
"What, what is it Goku?" asked Master Roshi.  
  
"It's Piccolo, he's contacting me. Now hush." Goku ordered and everyone became silent and quite scared- you don't want to make Goku mad when he was in 'serious mode'.  
  
"Oh, sure thing Goku." Eeped Roshi as he settled back down to sit on a huge pillow on the floor.  
  
/Piccolo! Are you alright? /  
  
/Yeah, I'm fine, well considering everything. So what have you guys been doing on the plan to get me back home? /  
  
/Well, we have to wait for Bulma to get here. We just called her, and she sounded like she has a plan to get you back. We don't know what else to do. I mean if we got the dragonballs and tried to wish you back over here that would work, but you know how long collecting all the dragonballs will take and Master Roshi and Oolong wished to have a life long supscription to PlayBoy last month. It would take a year to even USE the balls. Piccolo, all we can do is wait for Bulma, and if she can't get you out of there then we'll have to get the dragonballs. /  
  
/I'm just concerned. This world is one of many questions and I intend them to be answered. I think we could learn a great deal from the people here. /  
  
/What are you saying? Gohan is off the walls wishing you were back here. /  
  
/Tell Gohan I'll be back as soon as I can, but I want to stay here for a little while longer. He should understand, considering he's learning to become a scholar. Have Bulma take a look at the portal none-the-less. / Piccolo smirked.  
  
/Ok, but I don't trust the people there. I mean there are professors and scientists everywhere and you are a walking talking specimen, no offense. /  
  
/None taken, but I'll be careful. Thanks, bye Goku. /  
  
Goku sat back down. He didn't understand why Piccolo wanted to stay. What could he possibly learn from them?  
  
Sensing something was wrong Gohan asked, "Dad, what's up? Is Piccolo ok?"  
  
"Yeah son, he's fine. But, he wants to stay over there for a little bit."  
  
"But why? Doesn't he want to come back over here?"  
  
"He does Gohan, but he thinks he can learn something from the people there."  
  
"But he does want to return, right Dad?"  
  
"Yes, Gohan. He said that we should go on with our plan."  
  
"That would take a long time."  
  
"I know, all we can do now is what we've been doing...waiting."  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
Piccolo laid back down on the mattress and tried in vain to catch sleep, but it kept evading him. All he could think of was how to get back home and how to make Logan quit staring at him. He was getting self-conscious again and he hated that feeling. Logan, on the other hand, was actually sleeping with is head propped up. Piccolo didn't know this because his back was turned to the sleeping man.   
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~  
  
"What is this place? It's some sort of a mansion."  
  
A figure walked over to the gates and read the plaque to the right of the gates,   
  
"'A school for gifted youngsters.' Well, why don't I have a little fun? I always loved kids." Laughed the shadow now entering the Xavier school.  
  
  
Well, what do ya think? Chapter 4 will be up soon! Please review! I'm not getting a lot of feedback on this, I need something to keep me motivated! 


	4. Over land and sea

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah blah blah...I'm not making any money.  
  
A/N: Sorry this took so long so come out; I'll try to speed things up a bit. ^.^ I'm trying to get December 193 finished- I have BIG plans for that! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, esp. demon lover!  
  
/lalala /- means the characters are thinking.  
(~ lalala ~)- means I wanted to add something of my own.  
  
  
  
"What is this place? It's some sort of a mansion."  
  
A figure walked over to the gates and read the plaque to the right of the gates,   
  
"'A school for gifted youngsters.' Well, why don't I have a little fun? I always loved kids." Laughed the shadow now entering the Xavier school.  
  
  
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!  
  
Ororo rushed down to the control room and quickly turned off the alarm. She scanned the perimeter and found a tall, dark form flying over the south gate. She contacted everyone of the situation and ran to the approximate location of the invader.  
  
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.  
  
Piccolo heard a sound coming from Wolverine and turned over in his bed.  
  
"What is it Storm?"  
  
"Logan, we have an intruder coming over the south gate."  
  
"I'll be right there."  
  
"Storm out."  
  
"I'm going too."  
  
Logan looked up from his communicator and almost laughed.  
  
"You can't come. What do you know? You'll just be in the way bub."  
  
Piccolo suppressed the urge to punch the man's lights out.  
  
"You would be surprised what I know old man. I'm going. This might be connected to me. I recognize this power."  
  
"Yeah sure whatever kid. You can come, but stay out of my way."  
  
"Hmph."  
  
Logan got up from his chair, smiling the whole way.   
  
/I'll show him what I can do. I gotta make sure he doesn't get hurt though. I don't think he's fully recovered. /  
  
Piccolo got up from his bed and almost fell when he tried to put his full weight on his legs. Logan ran over and grabbed him before he fell to the floor. At first neither of them knew what to do, or say. Piccolo finally got frustrated at being helped.  
  
"I can take care of myself. I was just a little worn out from being in the bed, that's all."  
  
Piccolo pushed Logan's arms away and started taking steps towards the door.  
  
Logan almost laughed again.  
  
/Well, he's persistent, I'll give 'em that. /  
  
He walked out of the room and watched Piccolo wobble down the hallway.  
  
  
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
  
When Piccolo and Wolverine made it out to the south gate what they saw shocked them.  
  
Storm had gotten there first and was fighting off some guy with spiky hair down to his feet, and he had a tail! Cyclops and Jean were helping Storm. Even though this guy was big he wasn't really that strong. They were all out in the field around the mansion so there was plenty of fighting space.  
  
Piccolo couldn't believe his eyes.   
  
/Raditsu? No, it can't be. Goku and I killed him years ago. But that guy sure does look like him./  
  
Cyclops and Jean ran to fight him, and the figure disappeared from in front of them and then reappeared behind them and kicked both at the same time, while horizontal, with his arms crossed.   
  
Piccolo was now convinced it was Raditsu. Raditsu was the only person he had ever fought that used that move.  
  
"Raditsu!" He yelled at the creature, and the fighting stopped, all eyes on Piccolo.  
  
The figure had his back turned, so he couldn't see the Namek's face.  
  
"How do you know that name?", in Japanese.  
  
"Impossible!" in English.  
  
"You can't believe what?" asked Kurt.  
  
"How do you know that name?!" the figure repeated again, this time in English, clenching his fists.   
  
Piccolo nearly sputtered, "How do you know English?" He asked this in Japanese.  
  
"You learn a lot in Hell. Now how do you know that name! I demand to know." The figure turned around, his eyes grew, and his mouth went wide, "It's you."  
  
"I know that name because I killed you once before." said Piccolo as he shifted weight from one leg to the other, arms crossed and grinning/ smirking. (~ I can never tell which one it is!~)  
  
Everyone blinked rapidly and tried to digest the information. All the X-Men had made it out to the fight and that statement shocked even Professor Xavier.  
  
"So nice to know you remembered me, green bean. I never forgot you, or Goku." Raditsu narrowed his eyes, and started walking over towards Piccolo and Wolverine.  
  
"Just answer me this question Raditsu, how did you get here in the first place?" asked Piccolo slowly taking his normal fighting stance.  
  
"Well, as you know, since you and my little brother put me there, I was in Hell." He shrugged at this as though it didn't matter to him, "Actually I met a lot of people that you helped get there: Nappa, Freeza, Andriods 18, 19, and 29, Cell and I even saw the mighty Prince Vegeta for little while. Yes, you've been busy haven't you Piccolo?"  
  
The X-Men looked on in wonder and didn't what to do. They couldn't believe that Piccolo had helped kill all those people. Was he really a good guy?  
  
"You still haven't answered my question."   
  
"You haven't gotten any more patient have you? Well we were all there, plotting ways to get you Z fighters back for what you did to us when this huge bright light ripped a hole in the fabric of Hell, and all of us fell through it into THIS world. It was quite a wild ride. Yup, one minute I was enjoying myself in a nice hot afternoon, and the next I was here in front of this mansion." Raditsu moved to his fighting stance and snickered at the Namek. "You know, I've been training and I think I can get the best of you this time."   
  
Piccolo chuckled, "You just keep thinking that. I'm definitely more powerful than you are, and I don't need one of your scouters to tell me that."  
  
"Yes, that's you green bean, all talk, no action."  
  
"I can defeat you even in my present state."  
  
  
Wolverine felt his stomach go to knots at the thought of Piccolo fighting that huge brute. Piccolo was weaker that he thought he was, he could barely walk.   
  
Wolverine whispered, "Piccolo, you can't, you're too weak. You're not ready to fight him yet. You'd get clobbered kid."  
  
Piccolo whispered back, "You just watch, I'll mop the floor with this guy."  
  
  
"Are you just going to stand around all day, or are we going to start?"  
  
"No, I'm quite ready for this. Are you so eager to perish by my hand again?"  
  
"You think to much of yourself, you'll be the one pleading for mercy." (~ Gomen, but this is all they do for half the show so I had to incorporate it into this fic. I mean, they're as bad as the Sailor Senshi's monologes-which is the main reason why I don't watch Salior Moon anymore. On with the Fic! ~)  
  
Raditsu rushed Piccolo. He threw a flurry of punches and kicks, all of which Piccolo easily dodged. Piccolo saw an opening and punched Raditsu in the side, shattering ribs.  
  
Raditsu doubled over and fell to the ground. All of this was done in the space of 5.2 seconds.   
  
"No way. You can't be that fast." Raditz complained gripping his injured side.   
  
Of course, none of the X-Men saw any of the fight. They saw flashes of light then Raditsu on the ground holding his side. Needless to say they were all in the background scratching their heads trying to figure what just happened.  
  
"Now, to send you back to Hell." Piccolo stood over Raditsu and raised a hand to deliver the final blow.  
  
"Stop." Professor X hovered over to Piccolo and touched his arm. "X-Men do not kill."  
  
Piccolo studied Professor Xavier's face trying to read his motives, and slowly lowered his hand. "You're one lucky monkey, Raditsu."  
  
Raditsu coughed and climbed to his knees.  
  
"Rogue, Wolverine, get this man to the infirmary." ordered Professor X as he and Piccolo slowly turned their backs on the defeated warrior and started to walk away.  
  
Rogue and Wolverine started walking over to Raditsu and it all happened in less than a split second.  
  
Raditsu raised his hand and fired a ki blast at Professor X.  
  
Piccolo saw the ball and got in it's path.  
  
The ball struck Piccolo in the shoulder.  
  
"Shimatta! I was going to help you!" yelled Piccolo, "Well I'm not an X-Man, and so I'll see you in Hell." Piccolo raised his uninjured arm and fired the wave that sent Raditsu back to where he came from.  
  
Piccolo was, just as Wolverine feared, far weaker than he thought and fell to his knees clutching his left shoulder.   
  
Wolverine saw the whole thing and was amazed, to say the least, as was everyone else. He quickly shook of the amazement and helped Piccolo up. "You ok, kid?"  
  
"Yeah, I'll be fine."  
  
"Thank you. I wish you hadn't had killed him, but I am eternally grateful for your intrusion. If you need anything please ask." Professor X turned around and made his way back to the mansion, "Another thing, Wolverine."  
  
"Yeah." huffed Wolverine as he put Piccolo's arm around his neck and helped him to his feet.  
  
"Since you and Piccolo have gotten to be such good friends, after Beast dresses his shoulder he will have to bunk with you when he is here. There is another bunk available, in your room and you have a couch that opens to another bed. Besides we already put his cape and turban there. That isn't a problem, is it?"  
  
Wolverine knew that this was the Professor's way of paying him back. He knew that the Professor must have known about how he felt about the Namek, and he would have to remind himself to thank the Professor and tell him to stop digging around in his head, "It's no problem."  
  
~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
Well? What do you think? Review! Review! It took me a while to come to the decision to let Pic go ahead and kill Raditsu. I was going to let him live and then come back later for revenge, and then I realized that i have a lot more villians to incorporate before I'm finished with this lil' thing. Anyway, I think things will start heating up in the next few chapters, so stick around. 


	5. A little shy, and sad of eye

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah blah blah...I'm not making any money.  
  
/lalala /- means the characters are thinking.  
(~ lalala ~)- means I wanted to add something of my own.  
  
  
Wolverine knew that this was the Professor's way of paying him back. He knew that the Professor must have known about how he felt about the Namek, and he would have to remind himself to thank the Professor and tell him to stop digging around in his head, "It's no problem."  
  
Logan brought Piccolo to his- no, their room after his wound was bandaged. He still couldn't believe that Piccolo was as light as he was. All his muscles deceived his actual weight. Since he was half-dragging Piccolo because he was so short, he just picked him up and carried him the rest of the way up the stairs. Of course, the man fought the fact that he wasn't injured, but indeed ok, and could walk on his own since that is what his legs were for in the first place. Logan was just thankful that no one saw them, otherwise he would have blushed for the first time in his long life.   
  
"Here." Logan opened the door, and gently placed Piccolo on the bed.  
  
"I'm quite capable of walking on my own, if you don't mind. I don't need your help."  
  
"Sure, sure Piccolo." Logan busied himself with picking up what meager possessions he kept in his room, "What kind of name is that anyway?"  
  
"It's Namekian. But I think it's some sort of instrument in English." explained Piccolo. While getting settled in the bed, he took in his surroundings. It was a huge room with a very high ceiling. There was one extremely large window and balcony that let in the afternoon sun, but other than that there was nothing interesting in the entire room, except for the occupant himself who was busy, so Piccolo tried to fall asleep.  
  
"Well, I wouldn't know about the instrument thing. Doc would though. So where's Namek anyway?" asked Logan trying desperately to keep the conversation going.  
  
"Look, I don't want to talk about me, ok. Why do you want to know? You're just making conversation." said Piccolo absently waving his arm around, with the other on a pillow to keep him propped up.  
  
"Yes, that's true I am just making conversation. I do want to know about you because...because the professor wants to learn about you." Wolverine was getting angry. Piccolo didn't have to talk to him like he was lower than he was, "You have the bed, I'm sleeping on the couch. Good-night."  
  
"Thanks, I guess."/ Since when am I nice to anyone, I'm Ma Jr., son of Piccolo Daimou. I'm supposed to be a loner. It's that kid, Gohan, he changed me, I guess it was for the better though. I wonder how that kid's doing anyway. /  
  
  
"Hey guys! What's up?" Bulma walked into the Kame House and exchanged pleasantries.  
  
"Well, Bulma, um... I can't really explain it to you here. Everyone, lets go back to the portal, and see if we can't do something to get Piccolo back." Goku lead everyone to flying cars, and they made their way to the last place they saw Piccolo.  
  
  
  
"What do you think that thing was anyway?" asked Kitty.  
  
"I think we'll have to ask Piccolo that question. I couldn't trace his movements. It was almost like he was moving faster than the human eye." said Scott taking a chair by Jean.  
  
"We will have to have many questions answered once he wakes up." Professor X dismissed the others and was left to his own thoughts of what happened that afternoon.  
  
  
  
Piccolo awoke the next morning with both a headache and his shoulder in agony. It didn't help that once he opened his eyes he was greeted with the snoring, drooling form of a bulky Logan. All he could say about the situation was "Argh."  
  
The sudden noise woke up the slumbering man. He, however, was greeted with a bare-chested Namek. What he had to say about his situation was "Hey" which was returned with a raised eyebrow ridge.  
  
/Great...He's up. / sneered Piccolo as he got up to go find a waterfall and get clean.  
  
/Great! He's up! / thought Logan as he too got up to go take a shower and get clean.  
  
"Where can I wash myself?" asked Piccolo stretching and testing his shoulder. / Why is my shoulder hurting so much? I should have just healed on it's own by now. What is it with this place?! It's starting to get on my nerves. /   
  
"There's a shower in the other room." Logan nonchalantly waved his hand over toward the bathroom.   
  
"Oh. An indoor waterfall? I've heard of those."  
  
Logan just looked up and started laughing, "Yeah, sure. An indoor waterfall."  
  
Piccolo was definitely getting to be annoyed with this human, if his shoulder didn't hurt so much, then he would have given that guy something to laugh about, but for the moment all he said was, "Hn."  
  
  
  
When Piccolo had finished in the "indoor waterfall" he materialized some clothes, without his usual cape, and turban, for that would upset his shoulder. He never really noticed that his shirt was cut extremely low, providing any and everyone to gaze upon his perfectly shaped pecs and abdomen. However, Logan, who was making his way to the bathroom for his shower, noticed right away and became embarresed when Piccolo asked him what he was staring at.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
  
  
Piccolo was walking around the mansion, taking in its immense size. The Professor came up to him and Piccolo asked, "Where are those kids from yesterday?"  
  
"Oh, they are at school."  
  
"What's school?"  
  
The Professor blinked and replied, "It's a place young people go to to be educated. Haven't you ever gone to school?"  
  
"No. I don't think so."  
  
"How old are you?"  
  
"I think I'm 15 or 16. I'm not entirely sure."  
  
The Professor blinked again. "The how are you able to know two languages. Didn't you go to school to learn English?"  
  
"No." Piccolo didn't feel he had to elaborate.  
  
"Hm. Would you like to go to school with the rest of the kids?"  
  
"No. I wouldn't fit in. I'd much rather try to find a way to get back to my dimension. Besides, training is all I do anyway."  
  
"You mean, all you do is fight?"  
  
"Hai."  
  
"I'll bring Logan out here. You can show him what you know. He is the best fighter we have here."  
  
The Professor pushed a small button on his watch and spoke into it saying, "Logan, please come to the East field. I'd like you to help train Piccolo."  
  
A tiny electronic voice appeared a few seconds later. "Sure thing, Charles."  
  
The Professor turned back to Piccolo. "He should be here momentarily. In the mean time, why don't you show me some of your attacks."  
  
"Well, I don't know if you'll be able to see them. I'll just stick with ki blasts you can see."  
  
"What are ki blasts?"  
  
"Well, ki is in everyone. We all have it. You just have to be able to control it, make it do what you want." Piccolo cupped his hands together and a small light started eminating from the very center. "See? This is ki."  
  
"Interesting."  
  
"You can use ki in many different ways. Such as to float." Piccolo made the ball float up into the air directly ahead of Professor X and himself.  
  
"You can also make it larger and smaller." The ball became large then shrunk back down to its original size.   
  
"It is also possible to throw the ball a something, which results in an explosion. This form of ki is the main use that my friends in the other dimension and myself use when fighting. See that small tree over there?" The ball flew towards the tree and it exploded immediately followed by a loud explosion. Once the dust had settled, all that was left of the tree was a small crater.  
  
Wolverine came jogging up. "What happened?"  
  
"Piccolo, here was just showing me some of his attacks. Maybe we should wait till the children return from school. They should be here any minute. It is Friday, so they shouldn't have any homework that needs to be completed right now. Come, we can sit and wait." He turned to Piccolo as they walked inside. "What would you like to eat?"  
  
Piccolo stared back down at him. "I'll just have some water."  
  
"Are you sure, you didn't eat anything yesterday."  
  
"No, I'm fine. Water is all I want right now."  
  
Wolverine walked behind the two and thought / Maybe he's so thin because he doesn't eat anything. Does he have some sort of health problem? Is he anorexic? /  
  
They all sat around the table and made small talk (well, Logan and Professor X were the only ones talking) until, about five minutes later, the kids came running into the mansion.   
  
It was like a flock of elephant had run through. Shoes were thrown here and there. Bookbags carrying mounds of books were tossed into messy rooms. Chatter was a main sound in the mansion until the Professor summoned them to the large living room.   
  
"X-Men, I would like you all to go to the danger room and..."  
  
There was collective sigh.  
  
"Aw...come on Professor. We just got home from school. It's friday." whined Kurt.  
  
"Yeah, don't make us go through one of Logan's training exercises so early!" complained Kitty.  
  
"Let me finish children. As I was saying, I would like you all to go to the danger room. I would like you to view Piccolo's powers, maybe he can help on some missions."  
  
Everyone looked over to the Namek currently standing in the doorway.  
  
"Let us go, shall we?" the Professor said as he moved beyond the Namek and into the hallway leading to the danger room.  
  
  
When the X-Men came to the room, everyone but Logan and Piccolo came up to the observation tower to look out on Piccolo as he went through the level.  
  
"Okay, you'll be going through the same exercises the kids go through. If you can make it through their's then you can start on my routine. Got it kid?"  
  
Piccolo looked a little annoyed at being called a kid, "Whatever, let's get this over with."  
  
Logan looked at him, strangely. / Maybe he doesn't know how hard the level will be./ "Look kid, this isn't a walk in the park. Some of the other mutants haven't been able to get past this level."  
  
"I'll breeze through this. How do you say it? No sweat?"  
  
A laugh, "Yeah sure, kid." Logan then left to go to the observation tower.  
  
Piccolo was left alone in the white room with nothing but silence.  
  
The room became darker...  
  
Piccolo levitated into his meditative lotus position and closed his eyes. Concentration clear on his face.  
  
His sensitive hearing picked up movement.  
  
He let the footfalls become closer and closer. He estimated there to be about 40 of them.  
  
As he slowly opened his eyes, he found himself face to face with armed foot soldiers.  
  
  
Sorry this took so long to come out. The next part will be a while since I have SOLs to finish. Thank you to everyone who had reviewed! You guys are great! Domo arigato. 


	6. But very wise, was he

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah, blah, blah...I'm not making any money.

/lalala /- means the characters are thinking.

(~ lalala ~)- means I wanted to add something of my own.

Piccolo opened his eyes, and found himself surrounded by soldiers.  The soldiers were dressed in black, and moving in and out of the shadows created on the floor.  They carried guns, and six-inch knives.  It was hard to tell how many there were when they were constantly moving, weaving through each other.  Where one was, two replaced.

Piccolo smirked.  / This is all too easy./

In a flash he was on the attack.  Slicing through the haze to form a clear opening, just to have it filled again.  

/ It's like attacking a cloud.  Interesting./

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~

"Look at him.  It's like he did nothing."  

"Which program is this Logan?  We haven't had this one yet."

Scott turned to Logan with a questioning glance.  Logan looked over at him with his arms crossed and laughed.

"No way.  You guys aren't strong enough to handle this level."

"What are you talking about! We faced off against Magneto dozens of times, why do you think we couldn't handle this?"

"Because in this particular program, you must defeat all the ninjas, in order to complete the level."

"We could do that." Scott defended.

"You can hardly handle school work.  When one ninja is destroyed another one generates in its place within 60 seconds.  In other words, you would have to defeat all fifty ninjas, within one minute."

"You think he can do it?"  Jean asked as she studied the fast moving green blurb inside the huge metal holographic room.

"That boy has a gift.  I think we can all learn from him."  The Professor interjected and with an air of obedience, all conversation stopped.  

The children exchanged looks and gazed back into the danger room just as Piccolo began to get serious.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~

Piccolo gave a right hook to an unsuspecting ninja, when he brutally kicked another.  He cut down a few with his eye beams, but in all too long another stepped right back.  He fired a quick Masenko bomb, dispersing those few around him.  Quickly using his time before the next swarm came in, he prepared for his trademark attack.

Time seemed to stand still as he gathered his energy.  Blue light seemed to seep into his body.  He could feel the power coursing through him, and he knew this was the time to strike.  He released the energy into two beams, one wrapped tightly around the other.  He started to grin as wave after wave of blackness was demolished.  

He realized he could not keep the attack going.  His energy was vanishing quickly and the enemy was not fading as fast as he thought it would.  He began to loose his concentration.

He faltered for a split second, overcome by exhaustion, and the attack collapsed. 

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~

In the white of the danger room only seven of the once vast horde remained.  They advanced on him, buying their time- waiting for the others to be regenerated.

He could hardly stand.  All his energy went into that one blast, and it still wasn't enough.  

/ I can do this.  This is nothing…/ 

He struggled for breath and willed his eyes to stay open.

/Why am I so tired?  Snap out of it and finish this!/

Spurred on, he rushed the last few, and with several quick chi blasts and a few hard punches, they were defeated. He slumped onto the wall that had appeared once the program was terminated.  His muscles were sore, and aching.  

/What is happening to me?/

The danger room lights faded from a startling white, to a softer tone, and the X-Men watching from above made their way down.

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~

"Did you see that last attack?!" Kurt pointed. 

"Yeah!  How did he do that?"  Kitty agreed as she looked at Kurt then down to the danger room floor.

"Now I KNOW he's a mutant."  Spike exclaimed.

"Well, I knew that!  He's green for heaven's sake."  replied Rogue sarcastically when she folded her arms over the chest.  

"That blast seemed to take a lot out of him." Said Scott when he happened to gaze down into the danger room.

"Why don't you children go on to your rooms, let Piccolo rest a while."  

The Professor cut through the line of teenagers and suggested they retire for the night to finish some studying.  "Aren't midterms coming up?"

"But you wanted us to learn a few of his techniques."  Scott complained, wanting to know what made this boy special.  He was their age, right?

Ororo walked next to Scott and with a raised eyebrow whispered, "If the Professor is giving you a night off from Logan's training simulations, I would not complain."  

Having taken the hint Spike started pushing Scott toward the stairs. 

"You know Auntie, you're absolutely right!"

The kids piled into their respective rooms, shuffling their feet, and making disappointed sighs.  They had long faces, but small grins on their face.  They considered this a Love- Hate situation.  Love that they wouldn't be burned or chopped alive by one of Wolverine's lessons, but Hate because they wouldn't have an excuse to skip out on their homework.   

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~

"Logan, Beast went out to London for the next couple of weeks so if Piccolo needs anything be sure to accommodate him."

"I'm not his slave Charles, I came here to teach." An aggravated grunt followed.

 A Slight smirk and, "If you would rather me put him another room, all you have to do is ask."

A nervous gasp then, "No, I can manage."

*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~

When they walked into the room Piccolo was standing, and seemed to be fine.  However, there was a slight sheen of sweat on the Namekian, and he was gasping for breath.

"That looked like it took a lot out of you kid." Logan grinned as he walked over to the Namek who was currently trying to get his breathe back.

"I'm just fine.  I could have handled twice that much." Piccolo smirked and walked past Logan into the dimly lit hallway.

Logan just smiled and shook his head as he too went up to sleep.

Gomen, gomen!  I'm really sorry this took so long to get out. I've been in Arkansas and where I was staying didn't have internet- not even cable!  But I managed.  I've also had a ridiculous amount of summer school work assigned that's been keeping me pretty busy.  Again, I'm really sorry!  Please give feedback, I've been laughed at because I've only received 27 reviews. 


	7. And then one day

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah, blah, blah...I'm not making any money.  
  
/lalala /- means the characters are thinking.  
  
(~ lalala ~)- means I wanted to add something of my own.  
  
  
Piccolo finally made it up to the room he was sharing with Logan. He was sweating and his clothes were sticking to his chest and legs and he leaned against the doorframe.   
  
/ I can hardly breathe. It feels like my lungs are on fire./ Piccolo slightly stumbled into the room and fell on the bed. His head felt like a bowling ball weighing down his entire body making everything dizzy and air hard to force into his lungs.  
  
Logan was walking behind Piccolo and every time he stumbled or coughed, Logan felt his heart clench. When Piccolo slumped against the doorframe leading into his room, Logan finally saw with clarity the pain Piccolo was in. He was pale, and looked as if he was fighting for breath. When he coughed it shook his thin body making him look all the more helpless. When he collapsed on the bed Logan had to fight from running to his side and asking what he could do. / He would only get mad at me for asking. Poor fool./   
  
Logan walked into the bathroom, looking back at the sleeping Namek. He changed into a wife-beater and his favorite boxers, when he returned Piccolo had not moved. Logan slowly walked over to the bed, so as not to disturb its inhabitant.   
  
He sat Piccolo up on the bed and removed his turban, cape and thin shirt. Logan guiltily took the opportunity to admire Piccolo's sculpted chest. With his perfect blend of muscle, boyish skin and vulpine face, Piccolo was stunning even in his worst moment.   
  
Logan pulled back the sheets and gently laid Piccolo's head down on the pillow. He lifted Piccolo's legs and soon he was completely covered with the soft sheets. Logan vaguely wondered why Piccolo had not said anything during the whole ordeal, but he chalked it up to his being to tired to complain.  
  
/ I'd do anything to figure out why he keeps pushing me away./ With that Logan rolled out the couch and fell asleep.   
  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
  
Images of long defeated foes raced through his head, laughing at his plight. He was crouched on the floor holding his chest. It hurt so much to breathe, his throat was on fire and with every breathe he coughed blood. / Am I going to die?/   
  
Freeza laughed at him saying, "I never imagined you'd die such a dishonorable death Piccolo. How ironic."  
  
"Stop it." Piccolo whispered, the movement sending shooting pains throughout his body.  
  
"It's disgusting that a fellow Namek is so weak. The Namek's most basic ability is healing but you can't even do that. You're worthless, it's pathetic!" Slug jeered and raised his head as if he could not bare the sight of him anymore.  
  
"St...stop it!" Piccolo rasped, his throat screaming at the harsh treatment. "Stop it!"   
  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
  
Piccolo sat up screaming. His antennae drooped and sweat was rolling down his forehead in rivers. Logan jumped up from an uneasy sleep and ran to his side, immediately concerned.   
  
"What's wrong! Shit, you're burning up! I'm taking you to the infirmary right away." Logan pulled his hand from Piccolo's forehead where he had been measuring his temperature. He quickly picked him up and ran down the stairs to the infirmary where Beast was supposed to be 24-7. As he ran he screamed to anyone that would care to help.  
  
"Someone get the Professor right away! ... McCoy! ... Professor!" Logan sparred a glance down at the precious bundle in his arms to find that his shirt was soaked with violet blood where Piccolo had been coughing.   
  
When Logan got the infirmary he laid Piccolo down on a clean white bed and ran to look for Beast. "McCoy! Beast! Jesus Christ, would you answer me!"  
  
At that time the Professor chose to show up in his nightgown and wheelchair followed by Ororo and Scott. "Logan would you care to tell us why you chose to wake up the entire Eastern Seaboard with your yelling?" Scott yawned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.  
  
"It's Piccolo, I have no idea what's wrong with him. He was out of it after the training simulation yesterday and now he has a fever and won't stop coughing. And where the hell is Beast!" Logan said this all in one breath, leaving the three shocked mutants to grasp what he had said, it was the Professor who spoke first.  
  
"I told you yesterday, Beast is in London for the next fortnight. If I called him now it would still take over eleven hours for him to get here. Let me take a look at him, maybe I can figure out what's wrong." Professor Xavier wheeled himself into the infirmary and gasped at what he saw.   
  
Piccolo was covered in sweat, his bare chest gleaming in the artificial light. His eyes were closed tightly and his face betrayed the pain he was trying so hard to hide. He was breathing erratically with his mouth and head jutting forward as if to forcefully push the air into his lungs. His fists were clenching, letting a thin ribbon of violet flow from the cuts his fingernails were creating. Around is mouth were splattered violet specks from his violent coughing.   
  
"Oh my God. What is happening to him!" Ororo rushed to his side. She forced his head back down onto the pillow. "Get me a cold rag, now!"  
  
Scott rushed to the kitchen just as the other students were coming downstairs to see what was happening.   
  
"Scott! What's wrong, who's hurt?" Jean grabbed Scott's nightshirt and tugged for a response.   
  
"It's Piccolo, we don't know what's wrong. Let me go, I have to go get a washcloth!" Scott jerked his arm free and ran to the kitchen.  
  
Kitty and Kurt were staring by the doorway when Jean came to the infirmary. As she passed Kurt into the room she felt a blast of energy. She could only imagine it was from Piccolo. She gripped her chest and began to heave.   
  
"Jean! What's wrong? Are you ok?" Kitty grabbed for her and propped her up on the wall.  
  
"Yes, I'm fine. I just got a wave of this intense pain, I can only guess it was from him." She pointed to Piccolo, who by now had calmed down, and was unconscious.   
  
"I have the cold washcloth!" Scott raced into the room and handed the clothe to Ororo.   
  
"Thank you Scott." Ororo began to gently pat Piccolo's forehead, her face contorted with sorrow. "You poor thing, you've only been here a couple of days. What could be ailing you?"  
  
"Emphysema."  
  
Everyone turned to the Professor who sat at the small bedside table with a laptop connected to one of Beast's medical reports.   
  
"Emphysema? I thought that took years to acquire." Scott questioned.  
  
"It does. I don't know how he got this. Maybe he had the disease before he came here. We can only know once he gets better. It says here to give him some type of bronchodilator drugs." The Professor wheeled himself away from the table and to a small medicine cabinet. He tried to reach up to open the latch, but was too short.  
  
"Here, let me help." Jean walked over to the Professor and opened the cabinet, "Which one?"  
  
The Professor looked at the contents and pointed to a medium sized green bottle with a spray top. "That one."  
  
Jean retrieved the bottle and took it over to Piccolo, she opened his mouth and sprayed the contents into is throat five times. "There. We can only pray he gets better."  
  
"I agree. Come everyone, we've done all we can. Let us get some sleep and we will deal with this one we are rested." The Professor told the children and they all took one last look at the sleeping alien before slowly making their way up to their rooms.   
  
Logan was the only one who stayed behind. He had been a nervous wreck the entire night and he was still not completely satisfied with the treatment. He walked over to the bed and pulled a chair with him to sit on. He stared at the Namek and wondered what could have set this off, he was so healthy before, and then this. / It doesn't make sense./   
  
Logan stood up and walked over the laptop where the Professor had found Piccolo's disease. / I'm going to figure this out./ He sat back down, but not before laying a gentle kiss on Piccolo's now cold forehead. / I think I'm falling for you, and it scares me./  
  
  
  
  
Well? What do ya think?! I know it's been forever since I last updated, but I got Pocky for Christmas- my thinkin' food- and I had a burst of inspiration! I hope you like where this is going; I still have no idea how long this is going to be or how it's going to end, I only have a vague plot line, so anything goes. As usual if you have any ideas or suggestions please tell me, I'll be happy to hear from you.   
  
One more thing, I don't have a beta reader, so if anyone wants the job it's open. I'm my own editor so I'm sure there's lotsa mistakes.   
  
Thanx again for everyone who has reviewed. I really do appreciate it! 


	8. One magic day, he passed my way

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah, blah, blah...I'm not making any money. You know what, I heard that disclaimers don't really do anything! Oh well, I'll keep putting it up here.  
  
/lalala /- characters thoughts.  
  
(~ lalala ~)- I wanted to add something of my own.  
  
/~ lalala~/- character's inner voices.  
  
Logan had stayed up all night, trying to understand what was ailing Piccolo. He couldn't believe that Piccolo had developed emphysema so quickly; it just didn't make sense! He looked over at the now peaceful form lying on the infirmary cot.  
  
"What's wrong with you? I'm going crazy with worry- the only other time I felt like this was with."  
  
/ Stop talking like that. What happened to her with not happen with him./ Logan berated himself for thinking so foolishly and returned to scanning through internet files, and some of Beast's old medical files. / Something has to show up!/  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
It was dark and cold. That was the extent of Piccolo's knowledge. He walked without knowing where he was going, but he felt like he had to keep walking. He didn't know what would happen if he stopped, but he didn't want to find out either.  
  
He started to shake from the cold and his once vivid green lips turned blue. His throat felt like a block of frozen flesh; he didn't dare speak.  
  
/ Where's the end of this thing?/  
  
Then, as if answering his question, there was a flash of bright light that invaded his senses and forced him to his knees. When he regained composure he blinked rapidly to adjust to the light. There was a dark figure standing in front of him. The strange man bent down and cradled Piccolo close.  
  
/ He's so warm./  
  
Piccolo turned to see who was treating so kindly. His eyes widened and he choked out a single name.  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
"Logan."  
  
Logan stopped immediately, eyes widening.  
  
"Cold."  
  
Logan jumped from his seat at the computer, and flew to the bed-side.  
  
"You're awake!"  
  
Piccolo never opened his eyes, but he knew who it was. He smirked, "I knew you'd be here."  
  
Logan chuckled, "How is your throat? You should have another dose of medicine."  
  
"No, I'm fine, I'll be fine. It is just taking a little longer than I thought to heal myself."  
  
Logan looked at him thoughtfully; he shifted the covers and propped Piccolo up on his back. "Beast should arrive this afternoon, and then you can have a real doctor to look after you."  
  
"I think the one I have now is good enough." Piccolo shifted to get more comfortable and tried to fall asleep.  
  
Logan didn't know what to do. / He didn't push me away. Oh God, I can't do this! He's a guy for heaven's sake!/  
  
/~ But you like him don't you? ~/  
  
/ Of course I do! But.he'll think I'm disgusting./  
  
/~ You'll never know until you ask him. ~/  
  
/ I can't take the rejection. I just can't!/  
  
Logan took one last look at the sleeping Namek and quickly walked out of the room, trying to get his thoughts together.  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
"I'm glad to see he is in such good health. From what you told me Charles, I figured him for dying before I got here." Beast and Professor X were walking from the infirmary where Beast had just examined Piccolo.  
  
Professor X just smiled, "I thought as much myself, but it seems our friend has a few tricks up his sleeve." He then became very serious and stopped his wheelchair. "What can you do for him?"  
  
Beast sighed and replied, "I don't understand what gave him such severe symptoms. It does indeed look like emphysema, but there is just no way for it to degrade his health so severely in such a short amount of time. The only way is to ask him when he gets better."  
  
The Professor's eyes widened, "So he can speak again?"  
  
"Oh yes, though he doesn't say much."  
  
"How?"  
  
"Well, from the data we have gathered over the years on various alien cultures, the Namekian race was of great scientific importance. They could heal themselves and grow back lost limbs. This was curious because most Namekians have no diseases because their advanced immune system forbids it, and yet Piccolo seems to have advanced to the higher stages of a deadly disease within, what seems like, a few days."  
  
"Yes, I see your point. Please continue, Beast."  
  
"Well, since the normal treatment has seemed to trigger his rapid immune system, I decided to have the treatment continue non-stop until he has fully recovered."  
  
"Non-stop? I don't understand."  
  
"Clearing his passageways was a vital step in helping to cure this disease by allowing the needed oxygen to go directly to the lungs. With his body being capable of healing itself and his skin acting similar to a frog's, and to a lesser degree the own human skin, it could absorb outside chemicals from the air. I just combined these two concepts and due to his physical nature I made a small necklace that has concentrated amounts of oxygen and medication in solid form."  
  
"I applaud your level of research Beast. How long does the necklace give off this solid medication?"  
  
"Indefinitely. I used a pressurized chamber to pack the chemicals tightly together."  
  
" And just one more question, what would happen if he took the necklace off?"  
  
Beast started to walk again, to his room. "I hope we never find out, but theoretically he would return to coughing and hacking up blood within a few short days, and could possibly die as a result."  
  
The Professor watched Beast return to his room for a long needed day off, and then busied himself with the task of telling Piccolo the news.  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
Piccolo was up in his bed, staring out of the window into the courtyard when Professor X came in.  
  
"Piccolo."  
  
Piccolo turned to face the Professor, "Yeah?"  
  
"I have some good news. It seems that you will be feeling better very shortly and able to start practicing again."  
  
"And?" Piccolo knew there was something else, there always was.  
  
The Professor wheeled over to the window and looked at the birds outside playing in the birdbath while the talked. "Do you see that necklace around your neck?"  
  
Piccolo put his hand up to the loose, thin, white necklace that hung from his neck.  
  
"Beast compacted your medication into that tiny necklace and if you take it off you will return to your ill state within days."  
  
Piccolo shut his eyes and let the information sink in. "So this is my lifeline in this world."  
  
"Yes." The Professor looked at Piccolo with a look asking forgiveness.  
  
"Alright, just something else to live with." Piccolo acted like he was going to get out of bed when Logan walked in.  
  
"Hey?! What do you think you're doing? Stay in bed kid!"  
  
"Hey! I'm not a slug, I'm gonna go get some fresh air." Piccolo shoved his way past the bulky Logan and walked down the hall leading outdoors.  
  
"He has a mind of his own."  
  
"Yes, Logan. Not unlike someone else I know."  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
"Hey Piccolo! How are you feeling?" Kitty came running up, glad to take a break from training simulations.  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"Can you tell us what happened?" Kurt had brought over the rest of the group of young X-Men.  
  
"I'm not really sure."  
  
"Not in the least?" Jean asked.  
  
"Well I have a small theory, but it's probably wrong. I'm no scientist." Piccolo decided to sit down under a large willow tree and rest against its huge trunk.  
  
"Tell us your theory. We'd love to hear it." Scott had jumped to the front and indicated that everyone should have a seat as well.  
  
"Um, where I come from there is very little pollution. I'd say there were only ten towns on the entire planet."  
  
"Ten towns?! Where would you go shopping?" Kitty asked mortified.  
  
"I make my own clothes. Anyway, I suppose that coming from such a clean environment to one as wrecked as this would have minor side effects."  
  
"Minor? You call what happened minor?" Kurt asked, shocked.  
  
"Well, yeah."  
  
"So, what is your world like? Tell us about it." Some random kid in the back hollered out. Now a definite crowd was forming under the willow tree Piccolo had chosen. Even some teachers had come to listen (a.k.a. Logan).  
  
/ Oi! How many kids are in this school?/  
  
"Well, the towns are big and full of tall buildings, but I don't normally stay in any cities."  
  
"Where do you stay?"  
  
"Um, I live in the desert and forest areas."  
  
"Don't you get lonely?"  
  
"No, I value my privacy." Piccolo was starting to get annoyed by all the questions and decided to get out of there. As he was answering the last one he stood up and flew off toward the nearest forest, or what looked like a forest.  
  
The children and staff left on the ground sighed in disappointment. They had just started learning a little about the strange green alien and then he just took off in a huff.  
  
"What a jerk!"  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
Logan watched Piccolo take off into the sky and started to turn away when he saw Piccolo stop dead in the air and look around.  
  
"Hey! What is he doing?" yelled Scott, who had also seen.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
Piccolo shifted into what looked like a fighting stance and stared straight ahead.  
  
"I wonder what he's looking at," Logan wondered aloud.  
  
"Let's ask him."  
  
Logan looked at Kurt and yelled, "No! Don-"  
  
"HEY PICCOLO! WHATCHA LOOKIN' AT?!" Kurt yelled at the top of his lungs.  
  
Piccolo looked down at Kurt and screamed, "All of you, get out of here quick! He's-"  
  
Piccolo was cut off as a huge man in white and black body armor punched him across the face sending him falling straight to the earth and forming a huge crater when he landed.  
  
The man didn't waste a second as he flew down to begin pounding the small Namek into the dirt.  
  
"What are you kids waiting for? Get in there!" Wolverine yelled as he jumped on the huge man and began slashing at his back..  
  
"Right!" Scott blasted the man when Wolverine was thrown off, but quickly had to run from a blast the man shot from his hands.  
  
"What is he?!" Jean cried when she recognized the same pattern from the first attacker- Raditsu was it? He even had the same tail!  
  
Piccolo wearily got up from the crater and took yet another fighting stance. "You must grab his tail!"  
  
"What!?" Scott asked as he blasted the man again.  
  
"Grab his tail! It's one of his weaknesses."  
  
"Oh no you don't!" The man threw Rogue aside who he was currently fighting and looked at Piccolo. "You're not going to get me with that!"  
  
"And why not?" Piccolo smirked.  
  
"Because I'm immune to that now. But you wouldn't know now would you green bean?"  
  
"Oh shut up Nappa! I see you've been hanging around Raditsu lately."  
  
"Well, I've had plenty of time to prefect my skill and learn from my mistakes. However one of them wasn't killing you!" Nappa smirked when he heard the collective gasp from the X-Men team.  
  
"That was a long time ago and I'm fully intact, no thanks to you!" Piccolo shot a ki blast that was easily reflected.  
  
Nappa smiled evilly, eyes glowing, and began slowly walking toward the lithe Namk, "Not once I'm through with you."  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
So whatcha think? I know I've taken too long to right this, so I figured a write a longer chapter than normal. I hope you like the villain I put in; I know some of you have been asking for one. I'd like to thank a dedicated reader, Ripley for his support throughout- THANKS! Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long as this did. Mahalo! Aloha! 


	9. And while we spoke of many things

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah, blah, blah...I'm not making any money. I am using the characters of DBZ and XMen: Evolution for my own evil purposes! Mwahahahahahahaha*hack*cough*choke*die*  
  
/lalala /- characters thoughts.  
  
(~ lalala ~)- I wanted to add something of my own.  
  
/~ lalala~/- character's inner voices.  
  
I have no excuse for my inability to complete this fic, but I will tell you that I want to start it back up again. I have the ending all figured out, but I don't know what to do for the middle. If you have any suggestions for possible comedic scenarios don't hesitate to tell me in the review. Thanx for reading!  
  
Piccolo shot a ki blast that was easily reflected.  
  
Nappa smiled evilly, eyes glowing, and began slowly walking toward the lithe Namek, "Not once I'm through with you."  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
"You seem pretty sure of yourself, especially since you're outnumbered" Piccolo countered. He moved toward the mansion with the mutants gathered behind him.  
  
"You think a pathetic Namek, who I have already killed like a bug, and a couple of little kids are going to beat me?!" Nappa scoffed. He put his hands on his hips and looked at the crowd of children lined up in defense. "Now who seems sure of himself?"  
  
Piccolo glared at the giant Saiyajin and began to walk towards him when the teenagers charged forward.  
  
A loud cry echoed from the mutants as they ran toward the unsuspecting Saiyajin. Overpowered, Nappa began to falter in his footing and fell as the teenagers began blasting and punching.  
  
Scott shot a pulse straight into the giant's face causing severe burns and a cry of rage from the overgrown man. Jean lifted him in the air as Rogue casually touched his arm and absorbed his powers.  
  
Unfortunately she was not ready for the intense wave of energy as it hit her and she was thrown back, breaking skin contact. Kurt hurried to catch her and was thrown back as well, hitting the ground hard.  
  
Temporarily distracted by the commotion, Jean turned away from the Saiyajin. Nappa quickly gathered a ki ball and threw it at her. Jean turned to Nappa just in time to see the ball collide with another magenta beam. She smiled at her rescuer, "Scott!"  
  
"Don't try that again!" Scott kept his hand on the trigger at his right temple, ready at a second's notice.  
  
"I'd listen to the kid if I were you Monkey boy." Piccolo walked up to stand next to Scott.  
  
Nappa, still within Jean's grasp, slumped his shoulders. "No way am I going to let a bunch of kids beat me!" He summoned a ki ball and threw it at the closest person he could find, Kitty.  
  
"No!" Kurt yelled.  
  
Kitty froze as the ball kept getting bigger and bigger.  
  
"Move Kitty, move!" Scott screamed.  
  
Her lips started to mouth a scream as the ball was mere inches from her body.  
  
As soon as Nappa gathered the energy, Piccolo was in motion. As Nappa threw the ball at the helpless girl, Piccolo was running. He kept getting closer and closer, but she was too far away - the ball was too fast. That was when he realized,  
  
/~ I'm not going to make it.~/  
  
He ran harder, wishing he had Goku's instant teleportation. Just as he could almost reach her.the ball hit.  
  
.  
  
There was a blinding white light that surrounded the field, with a deafening silence. Then, the explosion. It rocked everyone off of their feet and sent Jean to the ground, knocking Nappa free of her telekinetic powers. Tons of fine dust filled the air, no one could see and those closest to the crater began to choke as it filled their lungs.  
  
/~No.I was too late.~/  
  
As the dust settled, and the air cleared it results were easy to see.  
  
"Is everyone alright?"  
  
Kitty asked, coming out of the crater. She didn't have a scratch on her, and had a wide smile on her face.  
  
"How?" Piccolo finally got out.  
  
Kitty just smiled again, "That is my power, silly!" as she walked through Piccolo to help Jean up.  
  
Piccolo stood there in shock as the small girl passed completely through him. It was an oddly numbing feeling.  
  
"What the HELL!" Nappa flew above the crowd and screamed. "How the hell did she dodge that!"  
  
Wolverine extended his claws, "She didn't moron. It went right through her."  
  
"But this won't go through you!" Piccolo threw a makankosappo beam.  
  
Nappa laughed, "I already know this attack; it won't do anything."  
  
Piccolo smirked, and said, "Oh really? Because it relieved Freiza of one of his arms. I wonder what it will do to you!"  
  
The last thing Nappa saw was a smiling Namek, before he was sent back to Hell.  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
Nappa was the talk of the school at the dinner table. Professor X had been briefed on what had occurred out on the school field, and began to wonder which side Piccolo was truly on.  
  
"I still seem to have trouble understanding the reason for such slaughter, Piccolo." Professor X shook his head. He was positioned at the head of the table, with Logan to his right and Piccolo to his left.  
  
A great feast had been prepared to congratulate the teens on their teamwork and victory. Everyone had a seat at the table and were chatting away to their various neighbors creating a pleasant hum of noise while eating.  
  
All manner of fruits, vegetables, and meats had been laid out on the table. Logan had taken a healthy portion of pork roast, leading to similarities between himself and Goku, Piccolo came to believe.  
  
"I am only paying him the same courtesy he showed me." Piccolo replied darkly, taking a sip of his water.  
  
"Please explain how you can kill him and still say he has done the same. You are clearly still sitting here."  
  
By now the table had become quiet and every ear was listening intently for the Namekian's answer.  
  
Piccolo put his glass back on the table very slowly. "Do really want to know? Do you honestly want to know how killing that vile piece of flesh was giving him too easy of a death? Do you really want to know why killing him has given me great satisfaction? Do you really want to know?" Piccolo stared into the Professor's eyes, as the man gave his answer.  
  
"Yes, I do."  
  
Piccolo lowered his head and sighed, "Very well. This is not something I take very lightly, and I will not discuss this over food. Please accompany me to the next room." With that said, he stood up, placed his chair back under the table and walked in the den. Just as Piccolo walked out of the kitchen door, the entire table was scrambling to get into the den. Chairs were knocked over and elbows were being jammed into others sides in order to get a seat.  
  
The den was warm, with a strong fire in the northern wall. Piccolo sat on the sill of a window staring out into the cold November night. By now, the mansion had settled comfortably and quietly awaited their alien guest's speech.  
  
"Nappa is a Saiyaijin.  
  
Saiyaijins were a proud race of mercenary warriors. They lived on the planet Vegeta with another race of smaller, more intelligent creatures. The Saiyaijins live for war and soon killed off the smaller creatures. They were mercenaries, hired out to destroy entire planets of people. Those who paid for this destruction would take the planet for their own. These Saiyaijin's were so heartless they even sent out their babies to destroy inhabitants that they deemed were not good enough for a full grown Saiyaijins. Once, they sent a baby, Kakaroto, to the planet Earth. Not this Earth, but my Earth. Fortunately for the inhabitants, Kakaroto hit his head, forgetting his orders of destruction and turning into a kind little boy. He is also the stupidest, most trusting idiot I know."  
  
Piccolo smiled at this.  
  
"He is now called Goku. Goku grew up. He has a wife, and son, Gohan."  
  
Piccolo stopped here. He breathed deeply, remembering his time with Gohan, and continued.  
  
"One day, Goku's brother came to Earth, surprised that it had not been defeated yet. You have met him. Raditsu."  
  
A collective gasp was heard.  
  
"Raditsu took Gohan hostage in order to make Goku promise to destroy the inhabitants of Earth. Goku refused and fought Raditsu. I just happened to be around the area and joined in. The only way to defeat Raditsu was to destroy them both, so I killed both Goku and Raditsu."  
  
Another gasp was heard and muffled "No"s were picked up by Piccolo's sensitive hearing.  
  
"Don't worry. Raditsu was sent to Hell, but Goku went to King Kai. He was allowed to be trained by the King of the Gods and then returned to save Earth. Kai trained him intensely because Raditsu would not be the only one coming. Two other Saiyaijins were on their way, Nappa, the Captain of the Guard, and Vegeta, the Prince of the Saiyaijins.  
  
I trained Gohan. We were going to need all the help we could get. There were only six of the Earth's Special forces that could combat this kind of an attack, and we had only a year to prepare. When Nappa and Vegeta came they completely demolished one of our towns. Then they came for us. The first to fall was Yamucha, then Chao-tsu, and Tienshinhan. Goku was running late in his return to Earth. Nappa was the one who had killed them, while Vegeta just looked on and laughed. Sometimes I wonder why I don't kill him now."  
  
Piccolo paused, reflecting on the prince. Many faces were confused by these words, but they allowed him his silence.  
  
"Finally, Nappa had set his eyes on Gohan. Somehow that little five year old had started to mean something to me."  
  
Piccolo muttered this and quickly highered his voice saying, "Goku would have killed me if I let anything happen to his kid, so I blocked the blast Nappa meant to Gohan. I knew I couldn't handle it, but I did it anyway. And I died, by Nappa's hand. So when I say that I only paid him the same courtesy he showed me, never again demand an answer, for next time you will not deserve to know."  
  
Piccolo quickly got up from his seat at the window sill and retired to the room he shared with Logan. He never looked at anyone as he passed, save for Logan. Somehow he felt a strange connection to the man - an odd sort of pull to him. He couldn't shake this feeling, and he didn't know if he wanted to.  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
Professor X covered his mouth as a silent cry of agony came over his being as he felt Piccolo pass. He could feel the emotion coming off in waves from the man's body, emotion that was meant to stay locked up inside.  
  
"I never should have asked."  
  
"Don't worry about it Charles. He chose to tell us what he did. I think he needed to get it off his chest." Logan put a hand on the Professor's shoulder, a comforting gesture. Professor X looked up at him. "Go to him Logan. He needs someone, whether he realizes it or not. And so do you."  
  
Logan looked at him questioningly, then nodded and walked out of the den to his own room.  
  
The mutant children still sat, letting the information sink into their mind. They had no idea. But with as many questions this answered, it opened still more. How is he not dead now? If Raditsu and Nappa were dead, how did they get here? How did Goku get back to Earth? But they were tired. Piccolo would tell them when he was ready, if ever. They held him in a new respect. Much sobered, the mutants went to their quarters.  
  
*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~~*~  
  
When Logan entered his room it was dark, and much too cold for his liking. His hearing picked up small sounds coming from the bed, and as he walked closer he realized what they were. Small tears escaped the Namek's eyes, but hardly any sound escaped him. Logan smiled, and sat down on the queen- sized bed. He knew Piccolo would never openly cry, from what he knew of the man he was surprised to see he allowed himself tears.  
  
Logan reached over, and pulled the smaller man towards him, so Piccolo's head resting quietly on his chest. He could feel the tears pool on his chest and he lightly stroked Piccolo's arm.  
  
No words were needed. Both knew something had happened that night.  
  
Logan knew he had finally fallen for the lithe Namek in his arms. He didn't want this creature to be hurt any more and knew he would give his life for him.  
  
As Piccolo drifted to sleep he spoke two small words that caused Logan to realize that he may still have a chance.  
  
"Logan.koi."  
  
Well? Whatcha think! I finally got to some shounen ai, and I hope it was worth it. Please review. I live on reviews! You never know what may happen in the next chapter.maybe I will finally get the R part of the story. So stick around and review! 


	10. Fools and Kings

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah, blah, blah...I'm not making any money. I am using the characters of DBZ and XMen: Evolution for my own evil purposes! Mwahahahahahahahahackcoughchokedie  
  
/lalala /- characters thoughts.  
  
( lalala )- I wanted to add something of my own.  
  
/ lalala/- character's inner voices

* * *

"Do we have a plan...at all?!" Gohan screeched.  
  
Sitting around the table at Capsule Corporation the Z-team had been deep in thought for how exactly to get Piccolo back. Well...some of them had been deep in thought the others had either fallen asleep or were busy playing thumb wars.  
  
"Ha! Beat you again old man!" Oolong triumphantly jumped from his chair and pranced around the room, conveniently waking Yamucha and Pu'ar.  
  
"So, do we have a plan yet?" Yamucha asked as he quickly wiped the drool from his face. The right side of his head was matted and looked like an odd half Mohawk.  
  
"No...not yet." Gohan slumped.  
  
Goku got up to stretch and patted Gohan on the head, in a fatherly reassuring gesture. He walked to the window, using all the power he could muster to come up with something. Then, the gears started to turn. Goku's face lit up and he turned around excitedly, "I could use my instant- teleportation!"  
  
Bulma seemed to think about this, "I don't foresee a problem, only that Piccolo had a hard time getting through the dimensional rift unfazed. You saw him, talked to him; you know he wasn't exactly healthy afterwards."  
  
"Well, yeah. But I'm way stronger than Piccolo."  
  
_Facevault_ "Yeah, I know, but you could still get hurt! Chi-chi would have my head if I let anything happen to you on my watch!" Bulma stood up as well and went to the kitchen to get a glass of water and clear her mind.  
  
"I don't think it's a bad idea actually Kakorotto. Which is saying something for you."  
  
"Vegeta! When did you get here?" Goku asked.  
  
Vegeta leaned up against the doorway and coolly replied, "I've been here the whole time. It's not my fault you were busy sleepy instead of finding a way to get back your so-called friend."  
  
"Oh shut-up Vegeta!" Gohan glared then flew out the door. He had to get a breath of fresh air.  
  
"What's his problem?"  
  
"Piccolo's been gone for almost two months. How would you feel if it was your mentor stuck in some unknown place and couldn't get back home?" Tien asked.  
  
Vegeta knitted his brows. "Kakorotto, is there anyway I could learn how to use that instant whatever thing to get through the portal?"  
  
Goku turned, "I suppose. I couldn't teach you everything, but I could probably teach you enough to focus on one person. Yeah maybe, why?"  
  
"I need someone to fight with, verbally. I need someone of at least some degree of intellect and unfortunately Piccolo is the only one I can do that with. I'm starting to get bored and annoyed."  
  
Goku smiled, "I think Piccolo would take that as a compliment."

* * *

"Two months."  
  
"That's how long you've been here?" Scott asked in the breakfast room.  
  
"Yeah." Piccolo sipped at his glass of water.  
  
"Is it hard being away from your home?"  
  
Kitty was sitting at the table eating a bowl of Honey-Nut Cheerios, Scott currently drinking a glass of orange juice, Jean eating a piece of peanut butter toast, and Kurt eating a unhealthy portion of Cocoa Puffs. Piccolo answered, looking out into the snowy January morning, "Yes, and no."  
  
"Come on children, you have to get to school. You'll be late." Ororo hurried into the breakfast room and shooed the kids out.  
  
"Piccolo, come to school with us! You're our age! Come on!" Kitty called back as she was being pushed through the door.  
  
Piccolo didn't answer, just looked out the window.  
  
When all the kids were gone, "Why don't you go with them? You've been saying you wanted to know about this world." Logan leaned against the door, looking in from the den.  
  
"I would, but I don't want to give myself away. It is difficult to control my strength like that."  
  
"Think of it as another challenge - just something else to overcome. I can get all the paperwork in; you can be an exchange student form Japan here for only a little while. It's really no problem, kid."  
  
Piccolo frowned at the "kid" comment, "When do I start, old man?" (1)

* * *

"Children, this is Ran Fujimiya (2). He is an exchange student from Japan. He will be staying with us for a little while. Please make him feel comfortable." Mrs. Hart said. "You can go ahead and sit down Ran."  
  
Ran Fujimiya is none other than our friendly neighborhood green Namekian, Piccolo. Beast made him a device similar to Kurt's to mask his appearance in public. A far cry from his "Post-boy" days (3), Scott and Kurt fixed him up with some trendy clothes. A tight-fitting back t-shirt, loose faded jeans, Timberlakes, and spiked his hair. All in all the man looked good! He took his seat in the back of the class, next to Scott and Jean. This was his first high school class, ever. And he was absolutely terrified.  
  
"Alright class, turn to page 342 in your books, and begin reading the Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge. Ran you may have to catch up."  
  
Piccolo looked down at his book. Read? / Do I know how to read? I can't remember. Suddenly I've lost all memory of this. / He flipped open his book, looked at the numbers on the bottom of page and finally found 342. / Oh yes. I remember now. These are like the books Gohan is always trying to weasel out of reading. I wonder what's so hard. /  
  
By the end of the class, Piccolo had the entire thing finished, and was currently twirling a pencil in his fingers. He never noticed all the looks he was getting from the girls.  
  
"He's so handsome!" 

"Hot! Hot! HOT!"

"Does he have a girl-friend?"

"Asian guys are so cute!"

"I thought Asians were supposed to be short."

"Yeah, but... well, look at Yao that basketball player from China."

"Point taken." (4)  
  
And all the death threats from the boys.  
  
"Look at him, all smug like that!"

"He's so getting it after school."

"He's even stealing our look!"

"Since when are Asian guys taller than Americans anyway?!"

"Coming in here, trying to steal our girls."

"You don't have a girl Fred."

"...Shut-up! I might have if he had never shown up!"  
  
The bell had rung and the class was getting up to leave. Piccolo gathered what little supplies he brought with him and followed Scott and Jean to their next class, gym.

* * *

"Hey Raaaaan! Where are you running off to!" laughed Fred and his gang of minions.  
  
"That's not how you pronounce my name. It's Ran with a long 'a', not ran as in past tense of the verb to run. I suggest you pay more attention in Mrs. Hart's English class." Piccolo yelled as he ran out onto the soccer field.  
  
Fred just looked confused. "Well, you can't beat me at soccer! I rule at this game! Or do you people call it football?"  
  
Piccolo knitted his brows and thought back to what Jean had told him, "I believe football is soccer in Britain and Mexico, not the United States."  
  
"Oh shut-up and try to get past me!"  
  
"Not a problem." Piccolo smirked.  
  
Fred took position at the goal, and Piccolo at the goal line. Piccolo weaved and zigzagged across the field. Fred was trying to watch, but found it difficult to keep up with him. Soon Piccolo turned into a blur and the ball like a bullet, launched form the ground in to the goal without Fred ever making a move to stop it. When time slowed down for Fred to realize what happened, he looked at the hole now in the back to the goal net and scratched his head.  
  
Nearby, watching the game was a shadowy figure - the Principle at the high school. / Magneto will be terribly interested in this. / His eyes glowed yellow as he walked off across the parade field, back to his office.

* * *

"So how was your first day of school?" Logan grinned.  
  
"It was surprisingly enjoyable. Stop grinning you old windbag." Piccolo smirked back. He laid his books on the bed and flung himself onto it. "Who could guess school could be this tiring? Yet, I don't feel physically exhausted, not in the least, just drained. Do you get that feeling?" He looked over at Logan, paused, "No...I suppose not."  
  
"Whatever kid." Logan looked over at Piccolo, laid out on the bed, with his arms above his head. / Stop it! He's not into that sort of thing. 

_He did call you lover the other night._

Maybe he didn't mean it. He was sleeping after all.

_You're such a pessimist. You know you want him._

I know that! I've known that since I first laid eyes on the man.

_Do you love him?_

...Maybe, I don't know! I haven't had the best of luck with love.

_Oh stop it! You're such a cry baby!_

How dare you say that!

_Think about it, he's been looking at you a lot lately, right?_

Yeah.

_And he turns he head real fast so that you think he hasn't been staring you, right?_

Yeah.

_And he called you lover!_

But...

_No but's, go talk to him._

I can't.

_Well you better think of something because he's trying to talk to you!_ /  
  
"Logan!" Piccolo was sitting up in the bed, looking straight at Logan.  
  
Startled, Logan turned, "Huh? What? Yeah?"  
  
Smirk, "Is there anything to do around this place? I can't stand not being active." Piccolo fidgeted and glanced out the window at the newly falling snow.  
  
Logan picked up on this, "Well, we could go take a walk if you want. The snow's still powdery."  
  
Piccolo continued to look outside, a forlorn expression on his handsome vulpine face, "I've never been out in the snow before."  
  
Logan walked over to the bed, and said with surprising gentleness, "We'll just have to change that now won't we?"  
  
When Piccolo looked over at Logan, he got a strange stirring in his chest. He didn't know what it was, but it persisted as they dressed for the cold, and again when they began walking through the school grounds out into the snow-covered forest.

It was truly magnificent. Snow blanketed the entire forest in sheets of pure white. Piccolo could see his breath as they walked and couldn't help a small smile to escape the confines of his mouth. Logan couldn't stop looking at him. / He's so beautiful. If a man such as he can be called so. /

Piccolo closed his eyes and lifted his face toward the falling snow, letting the small droplets land on his nose and tongue. It was all Logan could do not to grab him right there, but he resisted. / He would freak out on me. I just know it. / Logan dropped his head sadly, and watched his feet make foot prints in the snow as they walked further and further into the forest.  
  
When Piccolo had dropped his head back down to watch where he was going, he noticed Logan walking in such a way as to scream out his sadness. He looked closer at Logan's face, realizing he wasn't really looking at anything anymore. / Why is like that? Does he not enjoy my company? / Piccolo frowned. / Why would anyone? But still there is something about him. /

Piccolo turned his head to look back at Logan, realizing, in the chill of forest the red hue beginning to form on his cheeks and the manly stubble eternally present on the man's chin. Piccolo smiled at this. / The man would have a five o'clock shadow at seven in the morning!/ Piccolo memorized the way Logan's hair fell about his ears, watched as a stray lock dared to fall into it's masters eyes. Logan quickly secured it back into its rightful position, noticing the Namek's gaze at last. Piccolo quickly turned his head, as he has been accustomed to doing for the past month and tried to act as if his attention were riveted on the bark of a nearby tree.  
  
_/ See! I was right wasn't I! He IS looking at you!_

No he isn't. He's looking at the trees, just like he was before.

_You know it. I know it. HE knows it! Why won't you accept it and make a friggin' move!_

I can't!...

_What are ya?...chicken?_

I ain't chicken!

_Your favorite color is yellow, ain't it?_

I like yellow with blue. With Blue!/  
  
His conversation was cut short when Piccolo decided to stop and sit on a nearby rock, jutting out of the ground, covered with snow. "I thought this was a great place for a breather."  
  
Looking around, Logan could see why. It was a clearing circled with trees so white a person couldn't tell where one began and another ended. The only problem was Logan had no idea where they were. / I can just sniff my way back, no big problem.

_This is perfect! How much more romantic can you get!_

Wha?

_You're in a secluded area. It is surrounded by beautiful snow-covered trees. He's sitting there just waiting for something to happen!_

I can't just walk over there and kiss him!

_Why not?_

You just don't do things like that!

_Well, it is cold. You could offer to ...warm him up._

...That's not bad.

_I know, you can thank me later./_

Logan rolled his eyes, and looked over at Piccolo, who indeed was sitting there, just watching the snow fall, occasionally shivering. / Okay Logan, it's now or never./  
  
"Are you cold?"  
  
Piccolo looked up from his rock, "No."  
  
/ Shit! Um what to I do?/

"But you're shivering."

/ What? Where did that come from?/  
  
Piccolo seemed to think about this and after a moment's hesitation, "I suppose I'm a bit chilly."  
  
Smiling to himself, Logan sat next to Piccolo on the rock and draped his heavy coat around Piccolo's shoulders, careful to keep his arm around them as well.  
  
They stayed like that for what seemed like ages until they both turned to each other and said simultaneously,  
  
"Maybe we should head back." "It's getting kind of late."  
  
They would have chuckled had they not been staring at each other. / I think I'm going to fall./ Logan thought as he looked deep into Piccolo's dark onyx eyes, getting closer and closer to Piccolo.  
  
/ How did I never see his eyes? They are...so.../ Piccolo thought as he too drifted closer and closer to Logan.  
  
It was that cold night in January, in that secluded place that Piccolo and Logan finally found each other, in a kiss.  
  
Little did they know someone else had found them as well. A dark man, with a dark purpose. (5)

* * *

Sorry about the whole not getting this thing out when I said I would stuff. This has got to be the longest chapter I've ever written! I have been dreading this chapter because I have never written a romance before, and I didn't want to disappoint anyone. I hope I haven't. This marks the beginning of the end. I want to go ahead and wrap this baby up before I head off to college, otherwise it may never be finished. I just had to makes sure I had enough of a middle before I got started on the end. 'Til next time!  
  
1. I just love that "old man" and "kid" stuff! You know they would be doing that to each other!

2. Weiss Kruez!! Ran and Ken all the way baby!

3. Does anyone else remember the episode when Chi-Chi made Goku and Piccolo go get a driver's license? Piccolo was wearing that ridiculous "Post-Boy" t-shirt.

4. Actual conversation between my friends and me.

5. I just recently watched Aladdin again. I know I know, I'm getting too old to be watching Disney movies. Hey, I'm only 18! What can I say, it's a Disney classic!


	11. This he said to me

Disclaimer: Blah, blah, blah I don't own 'em...blah, blah, blah...I'm not making any money. I am using the characters of DBZ and X-Men: Evolution for my own evil purposes! Mwahahahahahahahahackcoughchokedie

/lalala - characters thoughts.

( lalala )- I wanted to add something of my own.

/ lalala- character's inner voices

I know I have taken entirely too long to get this out, and I apologize immensely. I have everything planned out and ready to go- it's finding the time to type it all out that seems to be my problem. Please forgive me, and review because those are the only reason I am even attempting to finish this.

* * *

/ They've been going at it for months/ Thought Bulma as she walked over carrying a tray of Saiyajin-sized snacks to where her husband and Goku were currently practicing a ancient technique- Instant Teleportation. "Coming along nicely I see." She smiled.

"As well as can be expected when a prince has to learn from a lower third class saiyajin." Huffed Vegeta as he gratefully took a huge bite of the sandwich Bulma so thoughtfully prepared. Although little is known about Vegeta and Bulma's relationship, it is plain to see that in moments when he thinks no one is around, he shows tenderness and a romantic side that would put even the storybook Prince Charmings to shame. Bulma has come to recognize that her husband shows two sides of himself, and has learned to deal with the two sides in her own way- as only Bulma can.

Goku smiled when Bulma laughed and grabbed a sandwich himself. "You know, if you would only listen to me instead of trying to do it your own way, we would have been finished some time ago."

"Yeah, yeah. I am nearly there." Grumbled Vegeta as he grabbed at his last sandwich and prepared to begin again.

Seeing that it is obviously time to stop eating and do what Vegeta wants, Goku mindfully thanked Bulma and turned his attention to his pupil. "You remember the drill."

Vegeta touched this index and middle fingers together and to his forehead, a split second later he was a meter to his right, a second after that two meters, another and he was ten, and so forth until he was quite a distance from Goku.

"Alright!" yelled Goku, "Teleport back to me."

The little speck that was the Saiyajin prince blurred and then was immediately next to Goku, with a sparkle in his eye that could only be called triumph.

Goku smirked, "I think you're nearly ready."

* * *

Nothing had really changed in the mansion since Piccolo's trip to school. He decided that school was not what he wanted, and that he indeed quite preferred the forest on the edge of the estate. Its calm was the only thing he could find that was not as loud and polluted as the rest of that world. He was sitting quietly, meditating, near a rushing waterfall hovering about three meters above the water when he felt a tickle.

That little tickle in your mind when you know that Goku wants to talk and you do not. / Just great. What does the monkey want this time/ Piccolo thought.

/ Yes Goku/

/ Hey Piccolo! How goes it/

/ Just fine Goku, what do you want/

/ I wanted to tell you that we've found a way for you to come back home/

A slight flinch. / What/

/ Yeah! I've been teaching Vegeta the Instant Teleportation technique so he could teleport over there, grab you and teleport back! It's fool-proof/

Sigh. / Goku, does Vegeta know exactly how powerful the portal is/

/ We told him, but you know Vegeta. He's pretty gun-ho about the whole thing and I don't think I can talk him out of it./

/ Especially since you've already trained him./

/Well, yeah./

Sweatdrop. / Ok. Look, when were you planning on having him teleport over here/

/ Uh,…hold on let me check./

Sweatdrop again. /Don't tell me you haven't asked yet/ Piccolo thought.

/ Piccolo/

/ Yes Goku. I'm still here./

/ He wants to go now./

Piccolo lost his composure and had to unravel himself from his favored lotus position to standing firmly on the ground next to the stream. / Now/

/ Yeah, is that a problem/

/No./

/Ok great/ Goku gave a thumbs up to Vegeta, who promptly ignored him. / We're sending him over now./

/Now! You are already at the portal/ Piccolo levitated and began flying back to the mansion.

/Yeah, where are you/ Goku asked, as he came into view of the portal after flying with Vegeta.

/On my way./ Piccolo then severed the connection and flew off at top speed. / Oy./

Kitty and Jean were outside walking around in the snow, making snowmen, when they noticed some thing in the corner of their eyes. Someone was on the other side of the portal Piccolo came out of.

"Kitty, you stay here- I am going to the Professor." Jean said and then rushed into the Professor's office. Kitty really didn't know why she had to stay there, but made use of her time by amassing a giant horde of snowballs (just in case, of course.)

Kitty had just finished her 27th ball, when Piccolo landed and Professor X was levitated out onto the field by Jean.

"Is there something we should know?" Prof. X asked as he looked in on the portal and saw Goku frantically waving, with another strange looking man scowling at them.

Piccolo grunted, "Vegeta has decided he needs to continue torturing me."

Professor X looked up at him confused.

Piccolo saw this, "Forget it." / You coming or just wanting to waste my time/ Piccolo asked Vegeta as he walked over to the portal and scowled at the Prince.

/All in due time, Namek./ Vegeta scowled back.

Goku, not in on the mental conversation, asked "Ok, what are you waiting for Vegeta?"

Vegeta sweatdropped, "Hn." He placed the pointer and middle finger of his right hand to his forehead and concentrated.

"What is he doing?" someone behind Piccolo asked.

Piccolo closed his eyes, and took in the situation. "He's coming over…"

Then Vegeta disappeared from sight.

"Where'd that guy go?"

"Shut up and watch." Piccolo said, not meaning to be forceful, but they were annoying him.

Vegeta materialized again, but not in front of the portal. He was a good twenty feet from where he should have been- immersed in the thick layer of forest around the mansion. Piccolo sensed the chi and looked over to his left. The other X-Men followed suit and indeed there was someone there in the bushes.

Piccolo rushed over to Vegeta, and saw that his chi was decreasing rapidly. Vegeta didn't look like anything had happened to him physically. No scratches, no bruising, nothing appeared wrong with him. /Nothing appeared wrong with me either./ Piccolo thought, as he quickly picked up the Saiyajin Prince and ran through the crowd of children to the infirmary.

Logan had just gotten over to all of the commotion when he saw Piccolo carrying something. He was about to go over and ask what the problem was when he smelled something in the air. He couldn't quite place where it was from, and soon he found himself following his nose into the forest Piccolo just came from. The smell was becoming stronger and stronger, when the Professor called to him.

"Logan. We need you to watch the children. Please follow me."

Logan glanced over at the Professor. "Yeah, yeah- coming." He took one last look into the forest and turned toward the mansion.

* * *

Lance Alvers, better known as Avalanche, was wondering around the outskirts of the mansion on day- as he normally does when he feels the way he does now. "Stupid X-Men! They get everything handed to them on a silver platter! Here I am, just scraping to get by."

He plunged his hands in his pockets and continued on into the outskirts of the forest. He was walking absently and kicking stones and pine-cones when one of said pine-cones hit something.

"Ughhhhhhh"

Lance was slightly startled, but when he looked closer he saw a small boy. / He couldn't be much older than 8/ He looked around, maybe someone had forgotten about him. Then he realized something. /Maybe the X-freaks threw him out. They can only have the 'preppiest of the prep' in their little freak show. Hm. Maybe Mystique could use this one. / With this in mind Lance picked up the kid…promptly dropped him because he was too heavy…and then picked him up again, this time throwing his over his shoulder and trudging back to his Jeep.

* * *

When Vegeta woke up, he didn't know where he was. That is until he saw the Namek over to his left hovering about four feet off the air. / That's right./ Finally it dawned on him where he was and his situation. He was about to get up off the bed- if that's what they call it- when the Namek spoke.

"Don't get up. You'll only feel worse." Piccolo whispered, without faltering from his place and without opening an eye.

"Why? I feel fine." Vegeta said as he hopped out of bed and began stretching and popping his joints.

Piccolo showed no outward signs of amazement, except the slight cracking of this other eye to open. / How was he not as affected as I was? Am I getting weak/ Piccolo quickly closed his eyes, and furrowed his brows.

At that moment Beast decided to make an appearance, which Piccolo was glad for.

"My, my Vegetable. You should not be out of bed so soon." Beast spoke when he walked in and saw the Prince moving around. He rushed over and tried to persuade Vegeta back into bed.

"Vegetable? That is NOT my name. How dare you speak to a Prince, Saiyajin first class in such a manner! You need to be educated on the proper manner in which to-"

"Shut-up Vegeta." Said Piccolo as he stepped down from his previous position and straightened his purple gi. "No one ever listens to your rants, so save the oxygen."

Poor Beast was thoroughly confused, and was standing gaping at Piccolo, "I thought you said his name was Vegetable."

Vegeta looked from Beast to Piccolo, his widows-peak growing larger (if that's possible) with rage and he was about to open his mouth to let loose more rants when Piccolo interrupted, yet again.

"Lost in Translation." Piccolo then walked out of the infirmary before Vegeta had a chance to retaliate.

/ The nerve! He's going to get it soon enough./ Vegeta calmed himself down and was in the doorway of the infirmary when another man came walking by.

"Nice to see you up and about, Veggie."

"My name is Vegeta. Did Piccolo tell you Vegetable as well?"

"No." A wink.

A snarl.

And that was the introduction of Logan and Vegeta.

* * *

Hopefully you enjoyed that and are reviewing right after this short comment from me. Flames are acceptable because I think after taking all this time to update I deserve them- but I can still ask to be nice about it! . Later Days. 


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